East Syracuse, N.Y. – The 21 brand new condominiums that just went up for sale at the former St. Matthew’s School in East Syracuse come with unusually low prices — from $136,433 to $164,688.
Those prices are $200,000 below the market rate for the condos, which consist of one studio, 12 one-bedroom and eight two-bedroom units.
Why so cheap? Because they are among the first housing to come to market under New York’s Affordable Homeownership Opportunity Program.
The program provides up to $220,000 toward the down payment on a qualified renovated condo or a new townhome or house being sold to first-time homebuyers who meet income eligibility requirements.
St. Matthew’s Condos received a $4.2 million state subsidy, or $200,000 a unit. The project also received a $105,000 grant from Onondaga County’s O-CHIP housing initiative.
The sales prices at St. Matthew’s Condos were determined so that no individual or family will spend more than 30% of their income on their housing expenses, including their mortgage, interest, taxes and homeowners association fees.
Located at 214 Kinne St. in the village of East Syracuse, St. Matthew’s elementary school closed in the early 2000s and was then leased by the church to a daycare center until 2022.
Developer Ryan Benz, of Redev CNY, bought the school from the church in 2023 for $575,000.
Benz said no two units are the same size because their dimensions exactly match those of the classrooms, which varied in size.
Each unit at St. Matthew’s Condos is heated and cooled with electricity via ductless mini split heat pumps. They also come with quartz countertops; stacked washers and dryers; window blinds; and stainless steel refrigerators, dishwashers, microwaves and stoves.
“They’re really move-in ready,” Benz said.
Each apartment gets one dedicated parking spot. There are 16 non-dedicated parking spaces for guests.
Four ground-floor units come with private outdoor patios.
The condos do not look anything like classrooms. All blackboards in the former school have been replaced with drywall. There are, however, some reminders of the building’s past. The school’s wide hallways still sport the school’s original terrazzo floors. And a school trophy cabinet remains on a hallway wall, minus the trophies.
Condo buyers will not get the use of the former school’s gymnasium. Now leased to a community group, it’s on sale for $825,000.
Benz completed construction on the condos and put them up for sale this month.
The state subsidies come with a few catches. Among them, buyers:
- Must earn no more than 100% of their community’s median income, which in Syracuse is $92,150 for a family of four, and they must successfully obtain mortgage financing.
- Can have combined household assets, excluding qualified retirement and education savings plans, of no more than $100,000.
- Have to complete an eight-hour Homebuyer Education Course, covering topics such as household budgeting and paying property taxes, before they can make the purchase.
- Are limited for 30 years to selling their condos to someone in the same lower-income level at a similarly discounted price. After that, they can sell to anyone at any price.
Information on how to apply to purchase one of the condos can be found on the Redev CNY website.
This is the first of two condo projects by Benz that have been accepted into the state’s Affordable Homeownership Opportunity Program.
He is part of a development team that is transforming a building at 1117 W. Fayette St. that was once part of the Kemp & Burpee Manufacturing Co. factory into 38 condos. Benz said they will be ready for sale in January.
Earlier in September, Home HeadQuarters, a nonprofit housing and community development organization, sold two single-family homes on Loomis Avenue in Syracuse’s Valley neighborhood for $190,000 under the same program. The organization plans to build 38 more homes under the program.
