BY ADAM ATKINSONNorth Country This Week

POTSDAM — A proposed rehabilitation and repurposing of Congdon Hall on Main Street is on hold for the time being while the developer builds partnerships with SLC Arts and local seniors groups for use of the space.

After a request for a 30-year payment in lieu of taxes agreement by the developer Vecino Group of Troy was tabled by the town and school boards last month and more discussion was requested by village officials, the project to rehab the hall is in a brief holding pattern, said a company official.

“Yes, both the Town and School Boards have tabled their votes on the PILOT. Of late, we’ve had a couple of productive meetings with Village Board Trustees, who shared some good ideas,” said Rob Holzman, Vecino Vice President of planning and acquisitions.

“Based on those conversations, we’ve been reaching out to local organizations (particularly in the arts community and senior services) about potential partnerships. Our goal is to wrap up those discussions within the next couple of weeks, which would position us to be on the Village Board’s 10/20 agenda for a PILOT vote. The School Board and Town Board votes would then follow at their regular meetings,” Holzman told North Country This Week.

The project would bring the large building next The Quarry back into active use, setting up new low income housing options for community use.

“Congdon Hall sits at a true gateway into the Village. Right now, it sends the wrong message, but once restored, it will showcase the pride and character of the community. It’s a beautiful building that needs some care and investment,” Holzman said. “With this investment, the building can once again reflect the same high standards we see at The Quarry next door.”

The Vecino Group plans to renovate the building and set it up with 1-, 2-, and 3-unit housing units.

The renovation would be much like the work the firm did with Old Snell Hall, now named The Quarry, which earned Vecino a 2022 New York State Preservation Award. Fifty-three apartment units would be designed into the newly rehabilitated space at Congdon.

“Redeveloping Congdon Hall with new affordable housing units will add new pedestrian activity to the neighborhood and into the downtown core, helping support local businesses with both patrons and potential employees,” Holzman said. “We see Congdon Hall as more than bricks and mortar: it’s a chance to create vibrancy and opportunity right at the front door of the Village.”

Initially, the firm was trying to secure PILOT agreements from the three taxing bodies — town, village and school — by Sept. 11, which would have allowed the building to be submitted for a 9 percent tax credit application, along with a similar development Vecino plans at The Midtown Plaza in neighboring Canton.

Holzman told North Country This Week that in late summer Vecino opted instead to combine both the Canton and Potsdam proposals into a single 4 percent tax credit application instead.

“While the 4% program does not have a fixed deadline, it gives us more flexibility in submitting materials for review and consideration,” he said. “This shift is actually working out well for Congdon, as it has given us time to explore and develop potential new partnership opportunities and take another look at our floor plans.”

Discussion at a village board meeting in August when Vecino initially requested a PILOT for the project, touched on housing availability for the local artist community, as well as low-income housing. Questions also surfaced at that time, as to what would happen in the future after grant and tax incentives for the repurposing had lapsed and maintenance and upkeep of the structure would become less incentivized.

All three local government boards— school, town and village — are expected to take up the issue again in a couple weeks, with Vecino presenting an updated plan.

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