LOCKPORT, N.Y. (WKBW) — A historic Lockport landmark has officially been given a new chapter.
The former Lockport Presbyterian Home has been transformed into a 53-unit market-rate apartment complex now known as Chase Commons.
The $8 million redevelopment, completed by Buffalo Construction Consultants and LMK Realty Associates, preserved key architectural features of the more than 40,000-square-foot property while modernizing the interior for today's renters.
The approach appears to be working: Chase Commons is already at about 95% occupancy, months into leasing its second phase.
For residents like Blake LeMoi, who has lived in Lockport since 2020, the project represents something he says the city has needed for years.
"We need to see development. We need to see Lockport bring on new businesses, new housing, new jobs," LeMoi said. "When I saw this, I was ecstatic to see more working residents moving here."
WATCH: 'Exactly what we need': $8 million redevelopment revives former Lockport Presbyterian Home
Vice President of Business Development at LMK Realty Associates, Nick Massaro, says the team was drawn to the building's history and potential to anchor neighborhood revitalization.
"We liked the historic nature," Massaro said. "We thought we could marry all four buildings together and produce something the City of Lockport can be proud of."
Historic tax credits and incentives from the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency also helped make the project possible.
For Kathy Sparks DiMillo, co-chair of the Greater Lockport Development Corporation and a longtime realtor, the transformation is personal. Her grandmother lived in the facility, and has shown the building to potential buyers over the years.
"It needed a lot of work," she said. "It needed attention, and it needed a vision."
DiMillo says Chase Commons is one piece of a push to bring more traffic, housing and businesses into Lockport, which she believes are beginning to take hold as new businesses, restaurants and redevelopment plans move forward.
Residents like LeMoi say they hope Chase Commons becomes a model for what's possible.
"This is exciting for Lockport," he said. "We need more of it."
