NORWICH – An extensive housing project underway in City of Norwich took another big step forward Wednesday with the demolition of four blighted properties on State Street.
Demolition crews were called in early Wednesday morning to contain the surrounding areas of the wrecking site at 5, 5A, 7 and 7A State St. Amounts of asbestos found within the blighted properties forced workers to take extra safety measures prior to knocking down the structures. The undertaking marks a new milestone in the years-long plan to put a privately managed affordable housing complex in the State Street neighborhood.
“Cleaning up our neighborhoods has become a priority,” said Norwich City Mayor Joseph Maiurano. “This is one more step in a much bigger project that we have been working toward for a long time. We want to have a safe, clean city and projects like this are how we get it.”
Similar sentiments were echoed by Ward Four Alderman Walter Schermerhorn, who has played a hand in the State Street affordable housing project since it was first conceived nearly two years ago.
“This is really a boon for the community,” he said. “It has always been our goal to try to increase the standard of living throughout the city. All this work might be an inconvenience to for the people living in this area now but at the end of the day, it’s really going to be beneficial for everybody.”
The State Street development initiative has taken several turns since a private development firm pitched the project to the city council in the summer of 2012. The proposal, led by Syracuse-based Two Plus Four Management, Inc. in conjunction with the Chenango County ARC, has required changes in city zoning ordinances in addition to substantial state funding.
It was announced in May that Two Plus Four and the Chenango ARC secured $3 million in financing from the New York State Office of Community Renewal’s Rural Area Revitalization Program for the development of the $7 million, 34-unit structure. The apartment complex - named Norwich Shoe Apartments - will be designated for low-income individuals and families, with seven units set aside specifically for persons with developmental disabilities.
The project was initially financed by a $618,964 Federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit allocation and a $2.4 million NYS Housing Trust Fund loan - funding that came with approval of an application to the NYS Homes and Community Renewal, submitted by Chenango County ARC in 2012. Reaming costs of the project will be footed by Two Plus Four Management.
With completed demolition of the properties at 5, 5A, 7 and 7A, plans now are for Chenango ARC, the current proprietor, to hand the four properties over to Two Plus Four Management for construction of the new facility already underway.
The remaining 30 units will be built on two acres (once used as the parking lot for the Norwich Shoe Factory) adjacent to the four aforementioned properties. When completed, Norwich Shoe Apartments will include a two-story, 28-apartment building, a separate two-unit building for senior housing, four two-bedroom town houses, as well as a community center and playground.
Said Maiurano, “This is a great project for the city and the fact that it will be privately owned and managed by a professional agency will make all the difference.”