CPC provides $1.91 million loan for mixed-use project in Armory Sq.

The Community Preservation Corp. (CPC) has closed a $1.91 million construction and permanent loan for the rehabilitation of two adjacent buildings in the city's Armory Sq. neighborhood. CPC's loan will be used to refinance the existing debt and gut rehabilitation of the two buildings. The permanent loan is insured by SONYMA. A four-story building located at 127-129 West Fayette St., which is the former Kirk Hotel, is being renovated into six one-bedroom and three two-bedroom rental apartments. The Clinton St. Pub, which the borrower has owned and managed since 2001, will continue to occupy the ground floor and will include a connection to the adjacent building at 121-125 West Fayette St., which the borrower purchased in 2007. The two-story masonry building at 121-125 West Fayette St., which is vacant, will be a gut rehab and include construction of two additional stories. The building will have two, two-bedroom apartments on the second floor and two, two-bedroom apartments on each of the third floor and fourth floors. The ground floor commercial space will serve as the eating area for the adjacent bar. "We are pleased to provide the construction and permanent financing for this important mixed-use development that will enhance the vitality of the Armory Sq. neighborhood in downtown Syracuse. Not only will this renovation project preserve a historic building, it will also create rental housing and retail space for the downtown area," said Nick Petragnani, regional director of CPC's Syracuse, central N.Y. and Rochester offices. A portion of CPC's construction loan, $400,000, serves as a bridge loan against a committed NYS Restore grant. The $1.51 million balance of the construction loan will be taken out by a 30-year, fixed-rate permanent loan, which will be sold to the Common Retirement Fund at the end of the 24-month construction term. The project also qualifies for historic tax credits. The city will provide a bridge loan against historic tax credit equity. Key Community Development Corp. will purchase the tax credits. CPC is a not-for-profit mortgage lender that finances residential multifamily development throughout New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Since its founding in 1974, CPC has invested more than $7 billion in more than 133,000 units of housing.