Tioga County Land Bank cuts ribbon on $905,000 historic renovation

By Matt Freeze —

On Oct. 24, local officials gathered to celebrate the completion of a $905,000 renovation of a historic building located at 81 North Ave. in the Village of Owego.

The renovation developed the site into a commercial ground floor with two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartments on the second and third floors. Each unit has a washer and dryer, back porches, and historic windows looking out over North Avenue.

Land Bank Executive Administrator Sara Zubalsky-Peer said she was delighted and proud to introduce everyone to the building, as it is the land bank’s largest project to date.

“This ceremony really highlights and gives a tangible reminder of the land bank’s mission, which is to provide high-quality development — take care of abandoned, vacant buildings and clean up blight,” Zubalsky-Peer said. “This building is a shining example of that, and we’re hoping to do a lot more of that going forward.”

Legislative Chairwoman Marte Sauerbrey, who also sits on the land bank board, was thrilled to see the project finally completed.

“Today is a very special day for this building; it has sat vacant for many, many years,” Sauerbrey said. “People have been interested, but they just couldn’t afford to rehab this building. Thankfully, because of the land bank, we had the opportunity through Sara (Zubalsky-Peer), who had the idea along with the (county) Economic Development (department).”

“They all worked together, and the board was very supportive of the project throughout its process,” she said.

Sauerbrey noted that the project’s completion is a big day for North Avenue because it’s a very busy street and it has set a bright shining light for the community.

“This is the beginning,” she said. “This is a continuation of things that are happening, and this is a real light for our community.”

Sauerbrey said it was great to have the opportunity to do the renovations and get it back into full function again, with people eventually living there.

“It really adds to North Avenue because it has been such a sad-looking street,” she said. “It took a lot of work and thought to figure out how to make the space most effective. The land bank has done a great job managing it.”

The project’s completion is another milestone for revitalization efforts in the village, with the recent completion of $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative projects to help modernize and preserve historic elements of the community.

“To save (the historic features) is a wonderful thing,” Sauerbrey said, and pointed out that the project had many small details that had to be kept correct, such as windows and molding, which took a lot of time and attention to detail.

Zubalsky-Peer also thanked everyone who helped the project along, especially since the project took more than a year to complete.

She thanked the land bank board for their support of the project, and New York State Homes and Community Renewal for being the primary funding source for the land bank initiative, as well as the county legislature, village officials, and the Owego Historic Preservation Commission.

“They were a huge part of this process, providing the kinds of feedback and open communication to make sure this was done to the standard of historic downtown Owego,” she said.

Zubalsky-Peer said the rent for the two apartments has not been set yet, as the land bank will vote on that in the future, but they will be setting it with the fair market rate in mind.

(Matt Freeze is a senior writer from The Morning Times.)