OSWEGO – Oswego Mayor Billy Barlow, state and city officials gathered together yesterday to officially celebrate the completion of the Harborview Square apartment complex with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, Tuesday July 13.
Speaking at the event were New York State Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas, Oswego Mayor Billy Barlow, NBT Senior Commercial Banking Relationship Manager Richard Driscoll, and Housing Visions President and CEO Benjamin Lockwood.
Harbor View Square, aptly named for the stunning view of the Oswego Harbor located directly across the street, is a multi-income, 75-unit apartment complex. The housing unit is one of 12 projects created as part of the New York State Downtown Revitalization Initiative and the Resiliency and Economic Development Initiative (DRI/REDI). Barlow said that out of the twelve projects, five of them are housing projects.
The Harbor View location, formerly known as the Flexo-Wire site, became a work garage for Oswego’s Department of Public Works. The underused, blighted area was an eyesore not only on the waterfront, but also to disappointed boaters utilizing the marina who may have wondered what the city had to offer for food and entertainment.
“Nobody wants to walk across a vacant parking lot after getting off their boat at Wrights Landing [Marina] and trying to get to downtown. They’ll stop at Gibby’s and it’ll end there, which is good for Gibby [but] not good for the rest of the downtown community,” Barlow said. “As all of these projects were being built, I’ve heard for six years now ‘who is going to live in all of these apartments?’ Well I’m proud to say of all of the housing projects that are now up and open – they’re full. A reason these projects were so important was a lack of quality housing here in Oswego. Not for people that live elsewhere or are moving in, but for our own Oswego residents who are already here.”
Lockwood also reflected on the sites former condition as he began the event, expressing his gratitude to all partnerships that came together in making this vision possible for the city.
“Being able to clean it up, put this project back on the tax rolls, contribute and provide some great housing options really speaks to the mission of Housing Visions, the vision of the City of Oswego and all the players that helped us get here today from various state, county and local resources,” Lockwood said.
Driscoll also said a few words about the project including the unusual delays, and obstacles that took place such as COVID and high water levels.
“Every project is challenging. Going in with the brownfield (pollutants/chemicals in the ground) situation, we knew this one would be. Nobody planned on COVID throwing a wrench into everything. I’ve been doing this for a long time [and] high lake levels has never been something that’s come up on any project I have financed, but there you go,” Driscoll said. “Be ready for anything.”
Visnauskas shared her thoughts about all the DRI/REDI projects dotting the city, reflecting on how far the city has come – from its inception to applying for the grants into a now active and bustling corridor.
“I was pulled over downtown for a second and I saw these two young people on scooters kind of scooting down the street, and then I drove down here – and when I got down to the road I saw them again scooting across the road. So it’s really nice to see that kind of activation of people coming down to the waterfront and be alongside this beautiful development,” Visnauskas said. “And while we’re celebrating some of the successes here, we also know that there’s so much more that’s still needed. There’s affordable housing crisis across the state. There are people in every community that I go to who are housing insecure or who are just paying more than they can for their rent. And so making sure that there’s quality housing in Oswego and everywhere else is something that we are very committed to.”
Visnauskas also shared Governor Kathy Hochul’s announcement of $100 million of grant money in a sixth round of DRI Initiatives across the state.
“At HCR we’re really working to support the Governor’s strategy of breathing new life into New York’s diverse communities. We want to strengthen local economies with really target investments, and we believe and know that affordable housing really can stimulate further economic development and private investment in areas all over the state by making communities more attractive places to live, to work and to visit,” Visnauskas said. “So our affordable housing goals really align with the state’s ongoing Downtown Revitalization Initiative.”
All photos below by Shea O’Malley.
Cost over $300,000 per unit.