For sure, something the more than 40 retirees and guests at the February coffee program would like to be able to do is visit some of the remarkably restored living and office spaces on the upper floors along Market Street. That desire was kindled by images of those spaces that were part of the PowerPoint presentation given by Elise Johnson-Schmidt of Johnson-Schmidt & Associates. Her firm specializes in facilitating the reuse of historic buildings and is involved in most of the efforts undertaken by developers in recent years in downtown Corning and in Elmira.

In her presentation on work on Market Street (The Street), she noted that the owners of street-level shops and stores initially made their homes on the floors above their shops. As they became more successful (read: prosperous), they moved their places of residence to homes on the southside hill, and the spaces above the shops became storage areas or just remained empty spaces. Over years of non-use, neglect and the ravages of weather, water and even "critters," many of the upper floors became uninhabitable.

Thanks to a growing number of property owner/developers, that aspect of the downtown buildings is undergoing major change. So much so, that largely due to her involvement in those efforts, she was honored in 2007 as a Woman of Distinction by the New York State Senate.

One of the first such restoration projects was undertaken by George Connors, owner of the former Ecker's Drug Store building built in 1893 as a multi-use building at the northwest corner of Cedar and Market Sts. Water seepage was so extensive on the upper floor that a large beam had collapsed, in turn damaging a considerable portion of the brick wall. A similar problem hit a Liberty Street building in Bath. For Connors, the damage could be repaired. The Bath structure was not so fortunate. It had to be demolished.

Today, the Connors building boasts show-place apartments on the upper floors with the topmost floor a 2,800-sq-ft. apartment with a deck that affords a spectacular view of the Chemung River and the hillsides to the north.

Similarly impressive were the views of the apartments -- and floor-by-floor schematics -- of the Henkel Block -- the most prominent building on the south side of Market Street between Cedar and Wall Sts. At one point in her presentation, Elise stressed that while restoring the exterior architecture is an important element in such programs, interior work can have greater latitude. For example, to give access to the Henkle Block's five floors, the project included an elevator -- certainly not something found in the original building. Like Connors' building, the Henkel Block's top floor is a single living unit while lower floors are split into three or more apartments ranging from studio apartments to 2-bedroom units. Elise was kind enough to provide photos of the Henkel exterior and interior.

In considering such projects, Elise said all aspects of the building -- interior and exterior -- are considered from a historical architectural perspective and considered in light of modern zoning laws and building codes that impact everything from access and egress to natural lighting and the full gamut of safe and sound building materials and electrical service. That's not to say that restoring a building on the Street is overly restrictive with respect to putting it back the way it was, as demonstrated in the Henkel Block restoration.

The advantages for the residents of these living spaces are considerable. Convenient access to shops, services and eateries along the Street aside, they are energy efficient and mainly maintenance free. To date, the spaces are all rentals, not condominiums that can be purchased. And not all the upper floor development is for living space. There are a number of professional offices, too. Rentals are in the range of one dollar per square foot of living space.

The photos of several of the re-furbished upper floor residential spaces reinforced the speaker's message that no matter how unsightly a space may be at first glance, it's amazing what old fashioned elbow grease can do to bring it back. Besides the already-mentioned legal considerations, other aspects owners face in such undertakings include historical retention, and building height (for aesthetics as well as safety). For abutting buildings, plans must provide fire separation and, where appropriate, ownership separation.

To be sure, such restoration programs are not without considerable expense. While owners can get loans to cover much of their investment, they often need further financial assistance. That may come from grants for such projects like those of the "Restore New York" grants program. Tax credits, in some cases up to 20% of the project cost, can also help finance the work. In fact, even before work can be started, the financial aspect of the project must be carefully weighed. These include the cost of the work to be done less any anticipated grant funding, the cost of the mortgage to cover the difference, and the anticipated rental income -- which all needs to come down to a figure that allows the developer to operate "in the black."

All who attended the program came away with a better understanding of and appreciation for the new developments taking place along The Street and for the people who are undertaking them Besides Connors, two other developers were on hand to respond to questions: J.D. Young, owner of the Henkle Block, and Rick Maxa, owner of 21 East on East Market Street.

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