The Westwood’s developers bank on downtown Utica’s revival

UTICA — With a love of rehabbing old buildings combined with nostalgia of downtown Utica remembered from childhood, a two-woman team tackled the renovation and restoration of a six-story Genesee Street building. 

Now the duo hopes the proposed downtown MVHS hospital combined with other business growth will help further the revitalization of the downtown area and help make their building a success.

Christine Martin and Enessa Carbone partnered to purchase the abandoned and boarded-up building from the city of Utica’s Urban Renewal Agency for $20,000 in March 2016 with a plan to renovate a few of the floors, create some apartments, and maybe add some retail space. Ultimately, the project, which started with demolition during the winter of 2016-2017 and construction in April 2017, morphed into The Westwood at 167 Genesee St. (www.thewestwoodutica.com).

The Westwood, named after Westwood Lane in New Hartford where both women live, features retail space on the first floor with current tenants Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches and Street Corner Urban Market. The 2nd through 5th floors contain 22 apartments, a laundry room, a fitness center, and a lounge for tenant use. The building offers tenant storage in the basement and work is underway to create a storage facility that others can lease space from, Martin says.

The apartments range from efficiencies that rent for $850 a month to a two-story loft that rents for $2,100 a month. The average rent is about $1,400, says Martin, and that includes utilities except electric. The women designed the project themselves and worked with Alesia & Crewell Architects, P.C. of New Hartford on mechanical and code issues.

The renovations, which included replacing electrical and plumbing, cost about $5.5 million, minus grants. The women received a $400,000 Empire State Development grant, a $200,000 National Grid brownfield grant, and a $22,500 façade improvement grant from the city of Utica.

Carbone financed the project with help from a line of credit from Adirondack Bank to bridge the gap until the grant money arrived.

The two women are already successful in their fields. Martin is president of FosterMartin Interactive Marketing in Utica. Carbone is VP at Carbone Auto Group, owned by Lithia Motors Inc. She also serves on Carbone’s legal and acquisitions team. So, why did they decide to take on the rehabilitation of a six-story abandoned building in the heart of downtown Utica?

“There are no reasonable housing options,” Carbone says. Apartments in the Landmarc building or the former Doyle’s Hardware building have higher rents and are a little more of a reach for young professionals starting out. 

Attending a block party a few years ago helped spark Carbone’s interest in the project. “It was a really fun day and it reminded me of what Utica used to be when I was growing up,” she says.

Both women wanted their children to stay in the area and say housing options are a crucial component of attracting young residents to urban areas. Both of their sons, in fact, are tenants at the Westwood.

Martin had rehabbed buildings before, including the building next door at 171 Genesee St. “I started buying distressed properties, rehabbing and renting,” she says. She partnered with C. Edward Schmidt on that project, which opened in 2018. Tenants include Character Coffee and Christine’s Cookie Shoppe on the first floor and 171 Events on the 2nd through 5th floors.

“I had a really great experience with that,” Martin says of that project. It made her eager to take on another project.

The Westwood’s first tenants moved in on Jan. 1 of this year. Tenants rented all but three of the pet-friendly units within a month. Only one unit remained available as of press time.

Carbone’s husband Sal Raspante operates the Jimmy John’s franchise restaurant. He also owns a Jimmy John’s in New Hartford. Carbone runs the Street Corner Urban Market, which has a selection of grocery products that include local products.

Carbone says having a grocery store in the building is a vital service not only to the tenants of the building, but also to the downtown area. While she was willing to take on the project, she wasn’t as willing to tackle learning the grocery business from scratch. Instead, she became a Street Corner franchisee. Including the initial $24,900 franchise fee, the total build-out for the store cost about $500,000 Carbone says. Street Corner, which has corporate offices in Poughkeepsie as well as Topeka, Kansas, charges a 4.95 percent royalty fee.

Downtown developments

Happenings such as the Resource Center for Independent Living’s recent move into the old Boston Store location in downtown are a good start, Carbone says. The downtown hospital project coming to fruition and progress on the city’s downtown revitalization initiative will be the keys to their success at The Westwood, the women say.

“Downtown needs to continue to aggressively move forward, “Carbone says. The building can stay afloat a year or two without any further downtown development, she says, but ultimately it needs downtown revitalization to survive.

“We need the hospital to bring jobs downtown,” Martin says. “We need more people living here to support the businesses.”

If the project is profitable, both women say they’d be willing to take on more rehabilitation projects. They are proud when they look at The Westwood, knowing that just three years ago that block of Genesee Street had Freeman & Foote Jewelers on one corner, Adirondack Bank on the other corner, and a bunch of vacant buildings in between.

“We’ve made a big difference in a short period of time,” Carbone contends.