{"id":65590,"date":"2025-06-24T11:49:34","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T15:49:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/?p=65590"},"modified":"2025-06-24T11:49:34","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T15:49:34","slug":"batavia-city-council-backs-500000-grant-to-repurpose-continental-building-group-of-six-ready-to-roll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2025\/06\/24\/batavia-city-council-backs-500000-grant-to-repurpose-continental-building-group-of-six-ready-to-roll\/","title":{"rendered":"BATAVIA\/City Council backs $500,000 grant to repurpose Continental building; Group of six \u2018ready to roll\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

BY MIKE PETTINELLA
For Video News Service<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Batavia City Council on Monday night agreed to support the Batavia Development Corporation\u2019s application for a $500,000 grant to redevelop the vacant Continental School of Beauty building at 215 East Main St., right next door to the new Healthy Living Campus facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building owners \u2013 and there are six of them — are looking to renovate the first floor into \u201cleasable commercial spaces, expanding the rear of the building and creating eight to 12 market-rate rental units,\u201d according to a memo from BDC Director Tammy Hathaway to City Council and City Manager Rachael Tabelski.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at last night\u2019s meeting, Hathaway touched upon the BDC\u2019s \u201csuccessful track record\u201d in obtaining New York Main Street Anchor grants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deadline for submission through the 2025 Consolidated Funding Application is July 31.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReadiness is a large piece of the grant application, and this project is ready,\u201d Hathaway said. \u201cThey\u2019re finalizing their renderings at the moment and their engineering plans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Local entrepreneurs Matt Gray and Paul Thompson are acting as the \u201cleads\u201d for the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hathaway said that both Gray (through Eli Fish Restaurant) and Thompson (as contractor for the Theater 56 project) have \u201cexperience in successfully administering one of these grants.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her memo, Hathaway wrote that the grant would foster rehabilitation of \u201cour downtown buildings and add to our housing base, which is desperately needed and is a feature of the City\u2019s Pro-Housing Community Designation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continuing, she wrote that the BDC has administered four NYMS grant programs and one DRI Building Improvement Fund, resulting in 22 projects receiving $2.2 million in funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

City Council moved the measure to a future Business meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contacted on Tuesday morning, Gray said other principals in the venture are Matt Boyd, who is Gray\u2019s longtime business partner, and Wade Thompson, Will Thompson and Madison Wesolowski, who are part of the Thompson Builds Inc. team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>
\"\"<\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe closed on the building in May,\u201d Gray said, adding that the two-floor structure is around 11,000 square feet. \u201cWe\u2019re still mapping out the building. Currently, the second floor is 4,000 square feet, approximately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd we’re looking to extend the footprint of the second floor to match the first. Right now, it\u2019s leaning towards (putting in) seven apartments; that would fit nicely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gray said his group is \u201cready to roll, but waiting for the grant process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He said construction would start by the end of this year, with completion of the commercial space expected by mid-summer 2026 and the residential space soon thereafter. He put the project price tag at more than $1 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked if there were any prospects for the commercial space, Gray said the opportunity is listed in pre-leasing through (realtor) Tony Mancuso.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gray, who also recently bought the former JC Penney building next to the City Centre, said having the Healthy Living Campus next door was a key factor in this latest purchase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s exactly it. That was what brought us to the site \u2013 the development next door really piqued our interest.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY MIKE PETTINELLAFor Video News Service The Batavia City Council on Monday night agreed to support the Batavia Development Corporation\u2019s application for a $500,000 grant to redevelop the vacant Continental School of Beauty building at 215 East Main St., right next door to the new Healthy Living Campus facility. Building \u2026<\/p>\n

Continue reading<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":65591,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4705],"tags":[1792,5205],"class_list":["post-65590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-city-of-batavia","tag-batavia-city-council","tag-continental-building"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8eTP4-h3U","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":73824,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2026\/04\/01\/city-of-batavia-a-sign-of-things-to-come-not-so-fast\/","url_meta":{"origin":65590,"position":0},"title":"City of Batavia\/A \u2018sign\u2019 of things to come? 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Karas was sworn in replacing Adam Tableski who stepped down from the position after his wife Rachael was named Assistant City Manager. 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Moore recommended putting $175,000 into a Facilities Reserve Fund, which currently has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Batavia"","block_context":{"text":"Batavia","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/gennesse-county\/batavia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/City-Coincil-still.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/City-Coincil-still.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/City-Coincil-still.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34991,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2022\/08\/09\/batavia-city-centre-littered-with-anti-rat-chalk-drawings-after-city-council-meeting\/","url_meta":{"origin":65590,"position":3},"title":"BATAVIA\/City Centre littered with anti-RAT chalk drawings after City Council meeting","author":"aka","date":"August 9, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Police were called to Batavia City Centre on Monday evening after City Council wrapped up their Conference and Business meetings about 8:45p.m. According to police, about a dozen or more chalk drawings were discovered on doors, brick columns, and sidewalks. 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Governor Hochul and State Legislative leaders have ensured that New York Cities can continue to grow their tax\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "City of Batavia"","block_context":{"text":"City of Batavia","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/city-of-batavia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/DRI-2.0-Boundry-Map.jpg?fit=1174%2C895&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/DRI-2.0-Boundry-Map.jpg?fit=1174%2C895&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/DRI-2.0-Boundry-Map.jpg?fit=1174%2C895&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/DRI-2.0-Boundry-Map.jpg?fit=1174%2C895&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/DRI-2.0-Boundry-Map.jpg?fit=1174%2C895&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":75500,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2026\/05\/26\/genesee-county-batavia-city-council-conference-and-special-business-meeting-may-26-2026\/","url_meta":{"origin":65590,"position":5},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Batavia City Council Conference and Special Business Meeting\/May 26, 2026","author":"aka","date":"May 26, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/5BgqE_SIQCI Video of meetings-May 26th, 2026 BATAVIA CITY COUNCILCONFERENCE MEETINGCity Hall - Council Board RoomOne Batavia City CentreTuesday, May 26, 20265:30 PM AGENDAI. Call to OrderII. Invocation \u2013 Councilmember BriggsIII. Pledge of AllegianceIV. Public CommentsV. Council Response to Public CommentsVI. Communicationsa. Walk to End Alzheimer\u2019s \u2013 10\/3\/26b. 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