The Masonic Temple in Hudson Falls, a village landmark that has fallen on hard times, will be converted to apartments and commercial space if an application for a Restore New York grant from the Empire State Development Corp. is approved.
The Masons lost the property in a tax sale in the early 1960s, the owner of the building, William Nikas said, and there have been several owners since then but “no one has done anything positive to restore it.”
Now, he is poised to invest $2 million, including $500,000 from the grant if it is approved, to bring it back to life. He envisions commercial space on the first floor, apartments on floors two through four, and a community area in the wide open space of the fifth floor.
“I’d like to maintain the integrity of that space,” he said.
Nikas is an attorney and this is his first venture into real estate development.
“I bought the building to save it,” he said. At the time, it was in foreclosure and had not been maintained. “It’s a monster of a building and it needs a lot of money. I had to act fast to get the building and I didn’t know what I was getting into.”
If all goes well, the building will again be a magnet bringing people downtown.
The Village of Hudson Falls made the application for the grant, according to clerk-treasurer Ellen Brayman. The application was submitted at the end of September. A decision is expected by the end of the year.
Restore New York is “very competitive,” Brayman said. One of the requirements is that a developer is committed to the project and $500,000 is the maximum grant for which Hudson Falls is eligible.
The grant application was prepared by William Murray of Shelter Planning in Queensbury, a grant development and management firm. They also prepared a previous grant application for the village, for conversion of the TD Bank building into a mixed commercial and residential space. That grant was approved in 2009.
Nikas envisions developing 16 apartments for senior citizens. Broken down, it would be three one-bedroom apartments renting at about $800 per month and 13 two-bedroom apartments renting at about $1,100 per month.
He characterized those as market rents but “on the low side.” He expects to finance $1 million of the cost. The balance will be his contribution, including the building itself.
If the grant is approved, he said, renovation makes economic sense. If it is not approved, he is uncertain what will be done with the property.