FULTON – The City of Fulton’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) Advisory Committee met recently to hear project developer Construction Design Management (CDM) President Chris Pisanti and Housing Visions President and CEO Ben Lockwood present on the DRI project known as Building 30. Currently, the plan is to build up to 66, 1-2 bedroom apartment units on the corner of South 4th and Fay streets with up to 72 parking spaces.
CDM, which owns the building, is under contract with the state as part of the DRI to develop workforce housing. The property is currently in a manufacturing zone but the city’s rezone plan–another DRI project under contract with the state–proposes to change the zoning at this lot and the Nestle site to a mixed-use district. According to a draft definition of a mixed use district, permitted uses for a mixed-use district include restaurants, banks, daycare, housing, recreational facilities, home occupations, professional office spaces, and other retail sales.
The majority of Thursday’s meeting was spent listening to a broad overview of the project and answering questions from the committee on the project. CDM provided a rendering to the group. As with any new build in the city, the project and site plans would be reviewed by the city’s Planning Commission.
Developers explained that the proposed four-story building will consist of approximately 16,500 square feet per floor, with ground-level space dedicated to a potential chocolate museum or Nestle memorabilia. The site development will include new landscaping, streetscapes, sidewalks, and parking. The property will have onsite, full-time property management and maintenance staff. Additionally, there will be 24/7 on-call staff for emergencies, and will be equipped with alarm systems and secured entrances. Project developers explained property management at the building will establish a system to alert key individuals, such as the Mayor, police department, fire department, and codes if anomalies occur and need to be addressed.
The building is expected to contribute to the tax base. The project aims to address the housing needs of the workforce. Currently, the total project costs exceed $20 million and a $1.5 million grant has been awarded through NYS Empire State Development. Pending the DRI rezone, the project could start in 2025.
This meeting built on the last meeting which collected questions and concerns from the committee on the city’s updated zoning maps and design guidelines and Building 30 redevelopment which are two DRI projects that are behind schedule. More projects will be discussed at future meetings.
The 21-person citizen committee, comprised of local and regional stakeholders, was recently appointed by the Common Council. The Committee’s purpose is to keep the public updated and engaged with what is happening with the DRI, and help to gather information and advise the council on previously awarded DRI projects.
In total, there were 16 projects awarded–a combination of municipal, non profit, and private projects with grants totalling $9.7 million. The city was initially awarded the DRI in 2019 for its vision and for project synergy but each project is contracted separately with New York State. The Fulton DRI Strategic Investment Plan can be found here: ny.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/Fulton DRI_Strategic_Investment_Plan2021.pdf
With COVID, much of the DRI was on hold. Some projects have changed since the original award. Last week, an updated DRI website link including an updated project list recently became available on the city’s website at https://fultonny.org/dri-initiative-page/
Those serve who on the DRI Advisory Committee are: Chair and resident Marie Mankiewicz, Vice Chair and resident Brittney Jerred, Secretary and resident Caroline Shue, Superintendent of Fulton City Schools Brian Pulvino, Fire and Police Commissioner and resident David Miner, 5th Ward Councilor and resident Audrey Avery, County Legislator and resident Frank Castiglia, resident John McGraw, 3rd Ward Councilor and resident Don Patrick, Code Enforcement Officer Malcom Wettering, resident and Fulton City School district representative Sean Broderick, Director of Strategic Initiatives at Oswego County Dave Turner, resident Cathy Trowbridge, Mayor Jim Rice, City Clerk and resident Jodi Corsoniti, Director of Public works and resident C J Smith, Director of Parks and rec and resident Chris Waldron, resident David Phares, Fulton Savings Bank Vice President Tina Stephens. John Kenyon, a fourth ward resident, was added to the committee by the common council at its April 2 meeting.
To view past minute meetings, visit: https://fultonny.org/dri-advisory-committee/.
To provide feedback to the committee, please send email to FultonDRI@gmail.com. Questions, concerns and feedback will be provided to the committee for consideration or response. Members of the committee are encouraged to bring any public concerns to future meetings as well. The meetings are open to the public.
CDM will present their DRI project to members of the Common Council at their legislative meeting on Wednesday, April 10 at 5:30 pm in the Courtroom at City Hall.
The next meetings will be April 18 at 10 am at the municipal room at City Hall, 141 S. 1st St., Fulton, NY 13069.
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Have you ever had a used car salesman tell you anything bad about the car you were going to buy. It’s the same thing here. Housing visions will not tell you that there are many problems with their affordable housing units. like drugs, poor living conditions, etc.
Just what we need is more vagrants, squatters, homeless, and drug users hanging around the site and ruining what was a nice neighborhood. Your going to need those three new cops as the residents will be calling 911 daily. Kiss any hope of Micron employees moving to Fulton as no one wants to live next to that problem, Jeff Cobb just lost my vote for re-election.
Rowdy1, Jeff Cobb is against the apts. going into the NB30, he will be voting against anything that allows that to happen.
and whats so attractive about fulton without the apartments to micron workers? lol is it the couple fast food chains that are always packed to the brim, or maybe the great entertainment fulton offers? the river trial will do it ,or the polluted lake no one can get near. these r fultons big go too’s any time fundings offered. maybe they can go out at nite with fultons big nitelife offerings lol, maybe they want to deal with cops who tell you youl b arrested for reporting a crime that happening to u… or pay outrageous rent for a dump. get a grip no ones moving to fulton that dont have to, only leaving