The site of the former Tri-County Mall property on Downer Street is being demolished in preparation for a 442-unit luxury apartment complex. The redevelopment comes after years of stalled plans for the site, which has sat vacant since a 2008 demolition plan fell through. Demolition began Sept. 15.
Morgan Management of Rochester plans to construct a 17-building apartment complex, similar to its Rivers Pointe development in Clay. Each building will contain 26 one-, two- or three-bedroom units ranging from 850 to 1,400 square feet in size. Monthly rent is expected to be about $1 per square foot.
“There’s been talk for a long time about different people buying it and doing some work on it, and it never materialized,” Baldwinsville Mayor Dick Clarke said. “Now, it’s finally happening.”
Baldwinsville’s code enforcement officer, Gregg Humphrey, said the demolition would be completed within four weeks.
“The builder of the apartment looks to start their site work in November,” Humphrey said.
Before Morgan Management can begin construction, National Grid must make sure the property is completely disconnected from electricity.
“We have to get confirmation with National Grid that the electricity has been disconnected from the site, not just the buildings themselves,” Humphrey said. “They’ve got to make sure they’re not digging into live [wires].”
Morgan Management could not be reached for comment about the project, but Humphrey provided The Baldwinsville Messenger with a copy of the site plan.
In addition to the 442 apartments, Morgan Management’s complex will include a clubhouse with a pool, a maintenance/storage building and a restaurant. There will also be private parking lots and garages for the tenants.
Previously, the Tri-County Mall was home to the popular Tri-County Mall Theater, which showed discount movies from 1974 to 2007. The mall’s final tenant, the indoor baseball and softball training facility Perfect Practice, moved to Hiawatha Boulevard in Syracuse in 2008.
Clarke said Baldwinsville is a prime location for young professionals because of its proximity to Route 690 and the Thruway. His hope is that the influx of new residents will attract more business to Baldwinsville.
“It’d be nice if this would encourage more shops that cater to people who are going to the Route 31 corridor, but instead might find something in Baldwinsville to shop for,” Clarke said. “Everybody’s going to benefit because there’s that many more customers.”
Clarke acknowledged that “the cry has been, ‘bring us a grocery store,’” but he said the village has not been able to attract Tops or Wegmans.
“It would have been beautiful to have,” he said.
Regardless, Clarke is optimistic about the coming apartment complex.
“[The site] looked awful. Now it’s going to be developed,” he said. “I’m assuming it’s going to be good neighbors for the people around there.”
