Rochester, NY Work has begun on the Bevier Memorial Building downtown, a $4 million mixed-use, certified historical rehabilitation that is expected to result in 15 loft-style apartments above 5,000-square-feet of ground floor office space.
City and state officials, as well as representatives from the Community Preservation Corp. Inc., and the developer, Franklin Properties of Syracuse in partnership with local developer Patrick Dutton, gathered at the site on South Washington Street last week for a tape and spackling ceremony.
“The renovation and revitalization of the Bevier Memorial Building is a victory for Rochester’s past, present and future,” said Mayor Lovely Warren in a statement. “This project will restore an important landmark to its former beauty while further enhancing the significant investments that are already taking place in western Downtown.”
The four-story building is located between the Cascade District, Corn Hill and the Monroe County Civic Center.
The Bevier Memorial Building will consist of five one-bedroom, one-bath units; nine two-bedroom, two-bath units; and one three-bedroom, two-bath unit, all with upgraded finishes such as hardwood flooring, granite counters, wood cabinetry and stainless steel appliances.
Additional amenities include in-unit laundry and on-site parking at 48 S. Washington St. The building, which features 12-foot high ceilings and over-sized windows, is being restored in accordance with the U.S. Secretary of Interior’s Standards for Historic Rehabilitation.
Funding for the renovations includes private capital; a $2.7 million construction loan from CPC, which will convert into a SONYMA-insured permanent mortgage supported by the New York State Common Retirement Fund; and a $750,000 24-month historic tax credit bridge loan from the city of Rochester through its Capital Project Housing Revolving Loan Fund.
The County of Monroe Industrial Development Agency is assisting the project with a payment in lieu of taxes agreement and exemptions from the state mortgage recording tax and sales tax on construction materials.
Designed by Claude Bragdon and completed in 1910, the Bevier Memorial Building was constructed for the Rochester Athenaeum and Mechanics Institute’s School of Art and Design, the precursor to Rochester Institute of Technology. The Bevier Memorial Building was named in honor of the late Rochester resident Susan Bevier, a benefactor of the school.
RIT vacated the building in the late 1960s, after which it housed offices. Listed on the National Register, the building has been vacant for some 15 years.