Cornerstone Group to renovate 104-unit Fairport Apartments

The Fairport Apartments, originally developed by Perinton Churches Housing and the Fairport Baptist Home in 1972, are located at 1030 East Whitney Rd. The multi-million dollar project involves the rehabilitation and preservation of the existing, affordable 104-unit senior project. This project consists of 13 eight-unit apartment buildings, totaling 67,400 s/f and a 4,000 s/f onsite community center. Renovations will commence in August. The renovation will preserve and modernize the apartments, resulting in accessible, energy-efficient units that will remain affordable to seniors at 50%-60% of area median income. The rehab also rearranges the layout of the studio units, creating a more functional design. The studio units will be reconfigured with a separate bedroom and improved, handicap accessible bathrooms. The scope includes adding platform lifts to each building, so that the second-floor tenants will have improved access to their apartments as they age in place. The community center will be modernized to enlarge the meeting room and upgrade the kitchen, office space and bathrooms. The development team includes Fairport Baptist Homes Caring Ministries, Fairport Apartments, Inc, Perinton Churches Housing, Inc., and Rochester's Cornerstone Group, Ltd., LeCesse Construction Services, Smith + Associates Architects and Marathon Engineering. The project is being financed by partners including NYS Homes and Community Renewal Housing Trust Fund and LIHC (Federal low income housing tax credits), Monroe County, Fairport Electric, Fairport Economic Development Agency, US Housing and Urban Development, Private Investment Tax Credit Funds (private equity partner), a construction lender and Federal Home Loan Bank of New York, through M&T Bank. The units will be completed in mid-2012 with all of the upgrades.