by Rick Moriarty of Syracuse.com
July 12, 2017
Syracuse, N.Y. — A 19th century factory building in Syracuse’s lakefront area has reopened with upscale apartments and office space after a $3.5 million transformation.
Montreal Construction Co. recently completed its redevelopment of the former Ventre Packing building at 373 Spencer St., a mile south of the Destiny USA mall.
Company President Len Montreal said five of the building’s 14 apartments have already been leased. Occupancy will start Aug. 1, he said.
The apartments (seven one- and seven two-bedroom units) are large, ranging from 850 square feet to almost 1,200 square feet.
They feature eight-foot tall windows that allow in tons of natural light, ceilings up to 16 feet high, granite countertops, 42-inch kitchen cabinets, stainless steel appliances, full-size washers and dryers in each unit, pre-installed cordless blinds, and porcelain tile kitchen, bathroom and laundry room floors that look like hardwood.
The third-floor apartments also feature exposed wood ceilings original to the building.
Access to the building, its elevator and stairwell are key-fob controlled.
Monthly rents range from $1,325 to $1,975 and include cable television and high-speed internet, but not heat and electricity. No pets are allowed.
The building’s first floor contains 9,000 square feet of office space, and all of it is already leased, part of it by Montreal Construction itself.
Montreal and its affiliates, Allegiance Realty and Salt City Enterprises, have taken 2,800 square feet of space for its new headquarters. It previously was in another one of Montreal’s projects, 400 Spencer St. A new office tenant will be moving into the company’s former office soon, Montreal said.
The other office tenants at 373 Spencer St. are Champions Events, Fitness Forum Physical Therapy and CNY Face Candy.
Built around 1896 on the east bank of Onondaga Creek, the three-story building is one of the oldest in the area south of Onondaga Lake and older by a few years than most of the buildings in nearby Franklin Square. It originally housed PB&H Molding Co., which made picture frames and wood molding.
PB&H moved to DeWitt in 1976. Ventre, a maker of pasta sauces, occupied the building after PB&H left. It moved to DeWitt in 1992, and the building has been mostly vacant since then.
Montreal Construction has been one of the most active builders in the lakefront area in the past few years, redeveloping numerous decrepit industrial buildings into modern offices, retail space and apartments.
Leasing information for 373 Spencer St. is available by calling Marisa Montreal, principal broker at Allegiance Realty, at (315) 391-0265 or (315) 295-2409.