A year ago when Cooperstown received a New York Forward award, a team of State officials
visited and walked our “NYF boundary” which included the building at 217 Main Street, the
former Where it All Began Bat Company. The Village has long been interested in that site’s
potential for housing.
From that NYF process, a developer of housing, Vecino Group (https://www.vecinogroup.com)
became aware of the property. Vecino is a national company dedicated to the development of
affordable and supportive housing. In January, they partnered with Springbrook
(https://springbrookny.org) in an application to the Office for People with Developmental
Disabilities – Integrated Supportive Housing (OPWDD-ISH) for 8 dedicated, one-bedroom
units in the potential 50 unit, 3 story apartment building. Springbrook would provide on-site
support services for individuals in those 8 units. In February they received a $1.78 million award
notification from OPWDD.
When Round 8 of Restore NY opened in February, the Village Board approved submitting a
Letter of Intent and were subsequently encouraged to submit an application for funding. At our
April 29 th meeting, there will be a presentation at 7 pm by Vecino Group and a Public Hearing on
that application.
According to the Village’s zoning law, the use of this lot for multi-family housing is permitted.
The building can be 42 feet, or 3-stories, tall without a variance.
Representatives from Vecino also presented at the April 9 th meeting of HPARB relative to an
application to demolish the existing structure. The Public Hearing for that review is scheduled
for May 14th at 5 pm.
All Village meetings, are live streamed and recorded on the Village’s YouTube channel.
Meetings can be watched live by clicking on the VOC Live button on the Village website –
www.cooperstownny.org. VOC Live also links to the YouTube channel where all meeting
recordings are located.
