Glove City Lofts upscale apartment building demonstrates the skill and collaboration that characterizes Fulton County’s economic development.
In order for the project to unfold, the Fulton County Center for Regional Growth (FCCRG) did what it does best—paved the way in the areas of property acquisition, financing, and community buy-in.
This allowed the Baldwin, New York-based Kearney Realty & Development Group to do what it does best: transform abandoned, derelict properties into hip, Manhattan-style loft apartments with state-of-the art sustainability features.
The project has the express purpose of igniting downtown revitalization using the arts as a catalyst.
Kearney first learned about the possibilities in Gloversville in 2019 when a friend brought him there to meet with FCCRG President and CEO Ronald Peters and Mayor Vincent DeSantis.
Kearney remembers well the meeting and good omen that came with it. “We went for a walk, and we got hit with a microburst tropical storm during the walk,” Kearney recalled. “My umbrella turned inside out.
I was standing next to the mayor, and we were both totally soaked. I said to him, ‘Mayor, this means good luck. I have to come back up here and work.’” True to his word, Kearney returned six months later and made a plan with the FCCRG to acquire the roughly three-acre property.
The process was rife with challenges. The building, located across from City Hall, originally housed a Great American supermarket and then for 16 years a Frontier Call Center that moved out in 2009, leaving the building vacant. Subsequently, the building’s owner defaulted on the mortgage resulting in liens on the property, and taxes began to accrue.
Determined to make Glove City Lofts a reality for Fulton County, Peters skillfully negotiated a deal, working with owners and lenders to avoid foreclosure. He helped to engineer a compromise that allowed the FCCRG to take ownership of the property so that Kearney’s company could purchase it in March 2022.
“The FCCRG did an amazing job of getting site control of this property,” said Kearney, noting that the lot has a critical location in the city’s vision to revitalize downtown. He chose the site because it will help connect Gloversville’s Main Street to the area of Trail Station Park adjacent to the Cayadutta Creek near City Hall.
“There are so many ancillary benefits when these projects are properly located and developed correctly,” Kearney said. Main Street’s resurgence is a key part of Gloversville’s revitalization concept.
Crews demolished the dilapidated building in fall 2023 so that construction of Glove City Lofts could begin. Mother Nature smiled down on the build. The mild winter allowed construction workers to continue work, and by summer of last year, workers were applying masonry on the building’s exterior that complements its siding, cornice, and trim. “It will make the building pop,” Kearney said.
His company employed predominantly local workers, including plumbers, electricians, and HVAC technicians in the build, infusing money into the county’s economy by providing 250 to 300 jobs.
In addition, the building is constructed sustainably, with increased insulation and geothermal heat with an electric source heat pump as a backup. These features eliminate the need for fossil fuels.
The four-story structure has 75 apartments, which Kearney hopes tenants will be able to move into by summer 2025.
The mixed-income housing will have rents at various income levels up to 60 to 95 percent of the area’s median income. Thirty-seven units are reserved for tenants whose work involves artistic or literary activities.
In addition to apartments, the building has spaces for an art gallery and arts office. The art gallery will face Main Street.
“The art gallery will draw people downtown to explore some of the craft of the tenants and others,” Kearney said. The presence of artists of varying genres boosts the local economy and amps up the quality of life.
Using the arts as a driving force in revitalization is a proven technique for Kearney Realty. It used this method in its Loft on Main, which won the city of Peekskill a Planning Achievement Award from the Westchester Municipal Planning Federation.
SHOW ME THE MONEY
Building Glove City Lofts had a price tag of $21 million, and the project was fully funded. Fortunately, the CRG’s team is expert at compiling funding and financing options that make investment appealing to potential investors.
Before his company even broke ground on Glove City Lofts, Kearney viewed the project as an impactful element to a successful Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) application.
In December 2021, New York State did award the City of Gloversville a $10 million DRI grant providing $1.25 million in funding for Glove City Lofts. The DRI grant came on the heels of the city’s receipt of $8 million in grants for revitalization projects in the five years prior, which laid the groundwork for the DRI.
A mix of tax credits and private investments provided an additional $7 million in funding for Glove City Lofts.
For example, Kearney’s company has a payment-in-lieu-of taxes agreement where it will pay $75,000 the first year after construction with a two percent increase annually for the length of the agreement.
REALIZING A VISION
After preparing itself as a highly desirable place to locate, a community needs to be able to market the area well to site selectors and their clients. Many communities overlook the importance of getting the word out to decision-makers in the investment community.
Gloversville’s story is not unlike those of many cities across the United States. It was a thriving industrial center in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, thanks to the leather industry.
A steady decline took place as manufacturing went overseas and eventually collapsed the city’s economy in the 1990s. With numerous projects underway, the city is making that era history as it turns Gloversville into what Mayor Vince Desantis describes as “a 21st century post-industrial community on the verge of a renaissance.” Glove City Lofts is tangible proof that the city is achieving its revitalization vision.
Furthermore, Kearney is not finished with Gloversville. The first building is just the beginning. He always envisioned a Phase 2 for the project. Kearney Realty & Development Group subdivided the lot it purchased from the FCCRG and plans to construct an identical building that mirrors the first, forming an L-shaped footprint to complement the present building.
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