Downtown Bradford is one step closer to having several more apartments after the city’s zoning hearing board approved a special use exception for the Hooker Fulton Building at a meeting Monday.
Board members unanimously granted the transformation of existing business space on the sixth, seventh and eighth floors of the building at 125 Main St. into apartments.
Now, building property manager Michelle Aaron-Simmons and engineer Curt Wallace of C.J. Wallace Engineering are figuring out what their next move is, which could be some kind of code meeting.
Plans for the project call for 18, two- and one-bedroom across the three top floors, work that is estimated to cost less than a million dollars. The apartments would include a kitchen area, one or two bedrooms, a living room area and a bathroom.
The apartments would be geared toward individuals who can afford middle- and higher-end rent, Wallace said. What’s more, the living spaces could be used for someone who is retired, and for an individual who is seeking a nicer place to live, he said.
He figured the rent would be between $800 to $1,000, with everything included, especially maintenance costs. Aarons-Simmons said the rent costs would be comparable to other apartment offerings in the area.
But at the meeting, Zoning Hearing Board Chairman Ross Neidich questioned if all of the apartments would be filled.
“The optimist in us has to say yes,” Wallace said. “We’d like to have responsible tenants.”
In fact, the Bradford area is seeing the loss of housing, and turning part of the Hooker Fulton Building into apartments would fulfill a need, he said.
For his part, Zoning and Health Officer John Peterson said he received no calls or inquiries from individuals on the project. This building’s use for apartments is allowed in a C-1 (commercial) business district as use by special exception as long as certain zoning requirements are met, he said. And in this case, all of the necessary requirements have been satisfied, he said.
The owner of the building is Bashir Sons LLC.
Those floors –– the sixth, seventh and eighth of the Hooker Fulton Building –– have sat empty for several years, Aarons-Simmons said.
After the special exception was approved for the eight-story building, Ross said, “Full speed ahead. Man the torpedoes.”
Though project officials walked away with good news, Wallace said that Monday night’s zoning hearing board action was just one step in the process. Aarons-Simmons said she is hoping that construction could begin soon on the apartments.
Also at the zoning hearing board, members approved an exemption relating to public parking for the proposed Domino’s at 15 Main St., in the old bank building on the corner of Main and Pine streets. The eatery is currently located along Bolivar Drive in Foster Brook.
“It’s not uncommon. Every building on Main Street that has a change-of-use has to go through the same thing,” Peterson said.
There is no onsite parking, he said, but metered parking is available on Main Street and a municipal lot is located nearby.
Wallace explained that Domino’s would have a small area for eating. The Foster Brook location doesn’t have a dining area.
“The delivery is kind of their cornerstone for their business,” Wallace said. “I think it will be a good business downtown.”
