While it untangles itself from troubled development partner Morgan Communities, TM Montante is moving forward with a project on its own at Lancaster Square at Gates Circle. Montante is proposing to renovate a medical office building at 1275 Delaware Avenue into primarily residential space.
TM Montante purchased the property in December 2017 for $1.952 million. The five-story building contains approximately 50,000 sq.ft. of space and was built in 1957. The redevelopment project will include 9,000 sq.ft. of commercial space and an approximately 1,000 sq.ft. cafe on the ground floor, as well as thirty-three new residential units on the upper floors. The new residential units will be market rate, consisting of 22 one-bedroom units and 11 two-bedroom units. Landscaping, lighting, traffic pavement marking, and signage improvements to enhance vehicular and pedestrian circulation are also planned. Carmina Wood Morris is project architect. Preservation Studios is providing tax credit services.
It’s been a slow go for redevelopment of the former Gates Hospital site. Lancaster Square was selected as the preferred approach for redevelopment of the site after a competitive RFP process run by Kaleida Health in 2013. A portion of the site fronting Gates Circle was sold for the Canterbury Woods Gates Circle project while People Inc. purchased a former parking lot on Linwood Avenue for an affordable housing project.
The Developer has completed a significant amount of work required to prepare the site for redevelopment however. It involved the abatement and demolition of the main hospital buildings, as well as remediation of contaminated soils in accordance with New York State’s Brownfield Cleanup Program. The Developer has completed installation of new underground infrastructure and begun construction of new roadways at the site.
In July, TM Montante completed its purchase of the parking garage immediately east of 1275 Delaware. The garage contains approximately 750 parking spaces and is critical in providing parking for adjacent developments, including 1275 Delaware.
TM Montante and Morgan Communities received approvals to construct a six-story mixed-use building at the northeast corner of Delaware and Lancaster Avenue but that project and the rest of the development has been stalled due to Morgan Communities’ legal troubles. TM Montante is said to be working on an agreement to buy-out Morgan Communities’ stake in the development.