$4M Finances Condo Construction

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PATERSON, NJ-Redeveloper Silk Mills Ventures, a local group, has received a $4.3-million loan from the Community Preservation Corp. to complete construction and put 20 market-rate residential condos on the market. Located at 19 Market St. in Downtown, Condominiums at Cooke Mills encompasses a combination of the three-story brick Cooke Administration Building and new construction.

The Cooke Administration Building was built around 1880 for the Cooke Locomotive and Machinery Co., and was once the focal point of a 31-building manufacturing campus. The refurbished building now houses five residences, fronting a new building with 20 homes. The older building was refurbished in accordance with National Parks Service guidelines in order to be entered on the National Registry of Historic Places, according to Richard DePetro, director of development for Silk Mills Ventures.

“We specialize in the preservation of historic properties with a goal of preserving architecture,” says DePetro, whose company has completed similar projects in Asbury Park, Freehold, Jersey City, Newark and West Orange.

“We are willing to finance development opportunities in unproven markets like Paterson because our goal is to help elevate the market,” says Annemarie Uebbing, CPC vice president and regional director in the company’s Jersey City office. “Here, there is a good mix of residential and commercial activity, and cultural offerings. It is very significant that these are the first market-rate condos Downtown.”