NEWBURGH – Baxter Building Corporation has completed the rehabilitation of the historic Wireworks building at 109 South William Street in Newburgh. The original structure, built in 1895 served, as the headquarters for Staples and Hanford Wireworks.
The mixed-use project features bi-level apartments, live/work studios, artist studios, a co-working space called “BEAHIVE Newburgh,” and a commercial retail space.
The rehabilitated structure, costing just over $2 million, was a joint venture to bring 9 apartments and other options to it. Baxter partnered with Sisha Ortuzar, principal of Grounded Hospitality Advisors, and Mapos, an New York City-based design firm, to breathe new life into the city’s southside.
Mayor Torrance Harvey called the completed project “A major step in reaching the goal of revitalizing our city for future employment opportunities and upgrades to our infrastructure.”
Throughout the construction process, Baxter and the development team made it a priority to keep as much of the original aspects of the building as possible. The brick walls were scraped clean and repaired, timber beams were left exposed, and the original hardwood floors were sanded and refinished. Old tin ceilings were repurposed for use in the two-story common space. The added architectural elements bring a modern sensitivity to the design that breathes new life into the old building, developers said.
“Everything the Baxter team touches turns to gold,”said Harvey. The mayor noted that the apartments are categorized as affordable housing with the average rent being at 80 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI) which is about $65,000 annually for the Newburgh market.
Eric Baxter, vice president of Baxter, said the company “could not be more excited to be a part of the development team that gets to ‘reintroduce’ this historic building back into the community. It is always our goal to deliver beautiful buildings, but the support from the community and the great partnerships that have stemmed from this project has been something truly special!”
Sisha Ortuzar commented on the community aspect of the project. “There is a slow, but steady transformation happening in Newburgh, and we are happy and proud to be part of it. We feel fortunate to have found this building, and to have the City of Newburgh and its residents, believe in our vision for it. The support for the project and the interest from people wanting to be part of it has been amazing, so we’re very grateful.”
The developers were the winning respondent to revitalize the project when the city released a request for Proposal or RFP to convert the building into something beneficial for the city.
For more information, visit newburghwireworks.com.
