$4 MILLION PROJECT: Treanor wants new bus stop relocated

Developer Michael A. Treanor wants to spend $4 million to transform the vacant Woolworth Building into 60 apartments.

In February, Mr. Treanor revealed he was putting together an alternative plan of developing the building into apartments, rather than the original idea of turning the six-story downtown landmark into a quaint 100-room niche hotel.

More details about the new concept for the Woolworth building were discussed when the subject came up at Thursday morning's Advantage Watertown meeting.

Board members expressed surprise about the number of apartments he plans to include in the building and that it would cost just $4 million. The cost of the hotel project was estimated at $10 million.

"Those numbers don't seem to be credible," Mayor Jeffrey E. Graham said.

The ground floor would remain commercial space. The building would feature a mixture of one- and two-bedroom and efficiency units on each of the other five floors.

Gary C. Beasley, executive director of Neighbors of Watertown, surmised that many of the interior walls would have to be altered to fit about a dozen apartments on each floor. There also might be issues with state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation if those types of changes are implemented, he said.

"It's going to be interesting how this unfolds," he said.

Mr. Treanor would have to find $1.5 million in private financing for the project. He also plans to pursue a 20 year tax-abatement program from the city, said Kenneth A. Mix, the city's planning and community development coordinator. The developer also wants the city to help him find tenant parking near the building and to relocate bus shelters on the west side of the building.

This winter, local business leaders were concerned about the prospects of losing a $2.5 million Restore New York grant if Mr. Treanor didn't act quickly to do something with the building.

On Thursday, Mr. Mix said he talked to Mr. Treanor about two weeks ago and almost immediately contacted Empire State Development Corp. about the change in plans.

The state needs to sign off on the change because of the Restore New York money that was secured for the hotel project.