Franklin Properties pitches Westcourt Lofts: 22 condos, 14,000-square-foot wellness collective at former library site

Franklin Properties told a Tompkins County committee meeting that it plans to convert the former library into a mixed-use project called Westcourt Lofts that would include 22 condominium units, a 14,000-square-foot wellness collective with a public community room and cafe, and about 31 parking spaces.

"We are buying the building for $925,000," said Doug Sutherland, partner at Franklin Properties, describing the developer'led proposal and the company's track record in historic rehabs. Sutherland said the proposal is a roughly $12,000,000 investment financed in part by a $9,600,000 construction loan committed by the Community Preservation Corporation.

The developers said they plan to retain the building's steel and concrete frame and rebuild the exterior skin and interior to create a mix of residences, ground-floor commercial space and a wellness collective. "We're maximizing our solar every square inch that we can do," Noah Demarest, the project architect and head of Stream Collaborative Architects and Landscape Architects, told the committee, adding that the team…