Things are looking up again in downtown Batavia.
A request to revise the current commercial zoning district at 97 Main St. and convert the second and third floors to residential use with the four-unit build is pending review during the city’s Planning and Development Committee meeting this week.
It is scheduled for Tuesday at 6 pm in the City Hall Board Room.
Applicant David Rowley of VJ Gautieri Constructors has applied for a special use permit on behalf of owner Peter Hunt.
Hunt purchased 97 Main St. in January 2022 and listed the apartments as a future target for the property after completing lower-story renovations at the site at the corner of Main and Jackson streets. At the time, he said the new space will have space, an estimated 2,000 square feet on each of three floors, for staff growth and offices, and one apartment on each of the second and third floors. He cited the “high ceilings and beautiful windows” that would make the property a great space to work and live.
According to related agenda materials, he has applied to build two apartments on each of the second and third floors.
The meeting agenda includes a review of the application, a public hearing and discussion of the application, and board action. Currently the property is zoned C-3, which is for commercial use, and it is requested to reclassify it to R-2, for residential use.
There are other downtown properties that have been similarly converted, with the first floors used for commercial and retail purposes and the upper floors as office and residential spaces.
The application supplemental materials state that:
- One trash and one recycling bag would be provided per apartment in the alley behind the building;
- Off-street parking would be available along the intersection of Jackson and Ellicott streets in a designated overnight parking area;
- A dumbwaiter on the south side of the building in the alley could be used to carry groceries and other heavy items; Y
- An entrance on Jackson Street is being upgraded for security.
The estimated cost of the work has not yet been determined.
The second item on the agenda is a request from Brad Trzecieski, owner of 327 Ellicott St., Batavia, for exterior modifications to his mixed-use building located within the central business district of the Business Improvement District on the south side of downtown.
File photo of Hunt Real Estate celebrating their new home in Batavia at 97 Main St., by Howard Owens.