Long-gestating project ready to move forward, add 23 apartments to City of Hornell

HORNELL — The former Marion Rohr Silk Mill will soon be buzzing with activity once more.

The City of Hornell Industrial Development Agency (CHIDA) and Park Grove Realty have officially signed off on an agreement for redevelopment of the old silk mill into 23 market rate apartments at 18 North Main St.

The deal was expected to close Friday or the following business day, CHIDA CEO James Griffin said at Thursday night’s meeting. CHIDA and Rochester-based Park Grove Realty have been working on the project since 2017.

“It seems like we’ve been talking about this project for a long time,” said Hornell Mayor John Buckley, a member of the board.

“There’s been a lot of snags,” agreed CHIDA Executive Consultant Shawn Hogan, “but we’ve worked through them all.”

Park Grove has spent the last few years on design, engineering and obtaining a historic preservation designation from the state. Both the New York State Historic Preservation Office and the National Parks Service were involved in approval of the project.

The silk mill, known locally as the “panty shanty,” once employed several hundred during its heyday before closing in the 1980s. Renovations will repurpose the structure into 23 apartments, adding to the city’s growing housing stock. Griffin said he expects work to get underway soon.

“When they go, they go. They’ll get it done and they’ll do a great job,” he said.

The apartment complex will also feature its very own parking garage for tenants, a novelty in the Maple City. The City of Hornell also signed off this week on a greenspace between the parking garage and the apartment building.

“People want to live in a building that’s been rehabilitated and renovated from an industrial use,” Park Grove co-founder Andrew Bodewes said during a presentation to CHIDA last April. “We think it creates a unique nature that will be very appealing to people and some other professionals who may be coming here to work at Alstom. We’ve done something similar at 1255 University Avenue in Rochester, and we hope to do something similar here.”

Park Grove revised its original IDA application as the project evolved in scope. The number of apartments increased from 22 to 23, reconstruction/renovation costs increased from $4.2 million to $4.6 million, with estimated bank financing boosted from $2.6 million to $3 million. The estimated mortgage increased from $4.75 million to $5 million, gross amount of cost of goods and services increased to $2.1 million from $2.5 million, and estimated sales tax benefits went from $168,000 to $200,000.

In a letter to CHIDA, Park Grove said the revisions were driven primarily by changes in architectural drawings, National Park Service requirements, asbestos abatement costs, and industrywide increases in construction costs.

“It’s one of those ones where the project gets more and more complicated,” Griffin said, later adding, “It has been a cooperative effort between everybody. We’ll be very glad to turn the property over to them. The IDA has been carrying costs on that for quite a long time — insurance, inspections, people going in there once a week to make sure the building is okay, maintaining the sprinkler systems, it’s been ongoing.”

Once completed, the development will be known as the Rockland Silk Mill Apartments.

TTA extension

In other business, CHIDA approved a one-year extension of the tax exempt status for TTA Systems.

“They’re still purchasing items in conjunction with their expansion over there,” Griffin said.

The extension runs through Dec. 31, 2020.