Development team asks Schenectady council to reallocate $236k for adaptive rehab of vacant Elmer Avenue School dailygazette.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailygazette.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Walter Simpkins recognized during National Homeownership Month | The Daily Gazette
SECTIONS
Shares0
SCHENECTADY – Habitat for Humanity of Schenectady County used money from the city’s HOMES initiative to complete a build at 323 Schenectady St. in 2016.
But a woman’s murder and other neighborhood concerns on that street’s 500 block made it a difficult sell, according to the agency’s executive director, Madelyn Thorne.
The lack of interest made Thorne try something outside the box.
Thorne said she recruited a particular individual, Community Fathers Executive Director Walter Simpkins, to apply.
Simpkins’ eventual purchase of the house was celebrated to fanfare at City Hall Tuesday as part of National Homeownership Month.
Black-owned company buys, rehabs another rundown Schenectady-owned property | The Daily Gazette
SECTIONS
Shares0
SCHENECTADY – A Black, family-owned business that has taken on neglected, city-owned properties was feted by city officials Wednesday for its work transforming a run-down former church into a gleaming two-family apartment building in the Mont Pleasant neighborhood.
Led by Pamela Swanigan, AIK Property Group bought 1073 Howard St. as part of a cluster of purchases from the city. It gutted, rehabbed and transformed the former church into a pair of three-bedroom apartments with open floor plans and oversized windows.
It was the second time city officials saluted AIK Property Group for giving a new beginning to a neighborhood eyesore. The previous ceremony occurred in September 2019, when AIK Property Group renovated 3330 Balltown Road through the same HOMES (Homeownership Made Easy in Schenectady) Initiative.