Albany officials promote small-scale apartment conversions - The Business Review (Albany):

http://www.slimorama.com/content/kid-fitness-the-burden-of-being-a-teenager/
One example is at 370 across from theAdministration headquarters. The uppere three floors of thelate 19th-century building are beinhg converted into six, 1,400-square-foot to 1,600-square-foot apartmentsd that will rent for $1,800 this A commercial tenant will be soughty for the first floor. The owners dubbed the apartments TheMeginnisxs Flats, in honor of the old electrical company whose name graces the rear of the buildinfg in big white letters that have fadef over time. The sign is paintedf over the red brick facad and must be preserved because the property was built in 1898 and is in ahistoricc district.
Financing small projects can be just as trickyu as the large Even though the owners were armed with a feasibilith study showing the potential for they weren’t able to get a bank loan becausre the real estate market had “Nobody wanted to finance this said Mike Hannah, a tax attorney and certifieds public accountant. “One lender wantexd us to put inanothedr $500,000 first.” Hannah and his partnersa ultimately got $1 million in private financing from sourcex in the Boston area. The interest-only construction loan enablef them to buy materials and hire contractors to starrthe renovations.
The apartments are located in a part of the city that coule see big changes in years to come if a proposed convention centef evergets built. Plans call for the center to be locate on the parking lots behind the row of buildings that includesa370 Broadway. The decrepi Trailways bus station next to 370 Broadwayu would be demolished to make way for a pedestriahn plaza leading to the convention Hannah and hispartners aren’t counting on the convention centefr to make the apartments a There have been many delays in the convention cente planning and, as of now, no commitmeng from Gov. David Paterson to fund the entirde $230 million project.
“I stopped even thinking abour it,” said Hannah, who owns the building with his wife, Micheled Hannah, and another couple, Brendas Gould and Perry Gould. The Hannah s used to run a commercial print shop on the firsyt floor but sold it four years ago when business The Goulds became part owners of the propert infall 2006. The partners are convinced there will be strong demand for the apartments from youn professionals and empty nesters who want to live Those are the same demographic groups that othere developers havebeen targeting, though the touggh financing climate has stalled or killed two large, high-profilre downtown developments over the past Plans for the 125-unit , a luxuryy condominium tower on north Broadway have been shelved, although says it hasn’ty given up.
Nearby, plans for an upscale 175-unir apartment building and 125-rookm hotel are on hold while the land owner triex to sell thedevelopment Small-scale residential projects are less profitable, but they are also more Over the past five or six years, there have been severapl conversions of upper-floor buildings into apartmentsw within the boundaries of the Downtown Businessz Improvement District.