<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=09pWn9_1FJ0gyl900" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=09pWn9_1FJ0gyl900" width="1800" height="1200" ><figcaption>The Northern Forest Center apartment building project in Tupper Lake is seen under construction in summer 2026. The affordable workforce housing is using innovative wood product construction practices in nine new housing units. Photo by Nancie Battaglia</figcaption></figure>The Northern Forest Center will celebrate completion of its Tupper Lake housing complex with a ribbon cutting on Thursday, Sept. 24 at 4:30 p.m. at 179 Park St. For a number of people, the ribbon can’t flutter to the ground fast enough.“About 25 people have reached out to us over the course of the construction process to say, how can I get an apartment?,” said Leslie Karasin, Adirondack program director for the Northern Forest Center. That time is approaching, and people interested in applying can fill out an application with Say Rentals.The Park Street project began with hopes an old hotel could be renovated, but water damage resulting from a bad roof put that plan out of reach. Instead, the rambling building was demolished and rebuilt into nine apartments—seven two-bedroom units and two studios. “The units run the gamut from modest studios to townhouse-style 2-bedrooms. There are actually five different floor plans for the units and the rents will reflect the differences among them,” said Karasin, who estimates the units will range in price from $800 to $1,800. Besides the benefit of being brand new, the apartments include amenities not always found in Adirondack apartments, such as granite countertops and in-unit washer/dryers, added Karasin.The $4.5 million project also includes a house next door, which will also go up for rent once renovations are completed.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=22NiNG_1FJ0gyl900" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=22NiNG_1FJ0gyl900" width="900" height="675" ><figcaption>The former Plaza Hotel in Tupper Lake, seen in 2022, has been demolished and rebuilt into a modern apartment building. Photo by Tim Rowland</figcaption></figure>Fresh, attractive construction elevates the neighborhood and gives those traveling through a more positive impression of the town, said Maura Adams, director of community investment for the Northern Forest Center.“Tupper got funding and put a lot into beautifying the immediate downtown area with flower boxes and facade improvements, but then as soon as you got out of the immediate downtown core, that beautification work ended pretty abruptly,” she said. “So we’re trying to extend that a little further down the road and really start improving the context as people get into town.”Tupper Lake has benefitted from a $10 million state Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant, and about a third of the Park Street project is state funded. The balance came from a Northern Forest investment fund and private donations and grants.There are no income restrictions on tenants, but the center is focusing on the “middle market,” Karasin said, meaning those with decent jobs who still can’t afford Adirondack housing.“As the pandemic has subsided, some of the immediate (housing) aftershocks have rippled out in terms of people’s expectations, but I think there’s still a real and omnipresent challenge for individuals trying to make a life in our communities,” Karasin said.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=167upt_1FJ0gyl900" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=167upt_1FJ0gyl900" width="1200" height="800" ><figcaption>A new nine-unit apartment building in downtown Tupper Lake, with work being done by the Northern Forest Center. Photo by Nancie Battaglia</figcaption></figure>The Northern Forest Center is experienced in the provision of workforce housing across New England, and is working with North County communities on prospective projects in Indian Lake, Saranac Lake and Elizabethtown.Once projects are completed, it generally holds onto the properties for seven to 10 years before selling to repay its initial investors.“Rather than going to a bank to finance the debt portion, we raise that money instead from folks who are interested in making a long term investment in our communities,” Karasin said. “So those individuals, banks, companies, etc., sign long term, unsecured promissory notes at a relatively low rate of interest — that lowers the cost of capital for the project, and makes the overall project economics work better than they otherwise might.” <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1xbNYT_1FJ0gyl900" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1xbNYT_1FJ0gyl900" width="1200" height="900" ></figure>In keeping with state smart-growth principles, the project is within walking and bicycling distance of businesses, jobs and recreation. That in-town location also helps keep costs down, as utilities are already in place.All that added up to a community that couldn’t wait for the project to be completed. Karasin said she heard from people who work in Tupper Lake, but without housing have faced a lengthy commute and young people, one of whom works at the nearby Wild Center natural history museum.“There had been some fairly rundown housing units on the property before, and one person reached out and said they actually lived in the building but had found another place,” Karasin said.”Based on our construction project, that person is interested in the possibility of moving back.”</div></body>

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The Northern Forest Center will celebrate completion of its Tupper Lake housing complex with a ribbon cutting on Thursday, Sept. 24 at 4:30 p.m. at 179 Park St. For a number of people, the ribbon can’t flutter to the ground fast enough. “About 25 people have reached out to...

Demand high for new Tupper Lake housing

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The Northern Forest Center will celebrate completion of its Tupper Lake housing complex with a ribbon cutting on Thursday, Sept. 24 at 4:30 p.m. at 179 Par

Demand high for new Tupper Lake housing

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