One week after the state announced the projects that will be funded by a $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant, the village of Cayuga received more good news.
One of the DRI-backed projects — transforming a 20,000-square-foot building at Beacon Bay Marina into a waterfront lodging destination — has been awarded a $1 million grant through the state's Restore New York Communities Initiative. The program provides funding to municipalities to revitalize commercial and residential buildings.
The funding is in addition to $2.5 million for Beacon Bay Marina that is part of the DRI award shared by the villages of Aurora, Cayuga and Union Springs.
Beacon Bay Marina plans to offer lodging with 10 to 15 one- or two-bedroom suites. An outdoor rooftop event space is also part of the project.
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the Restore NY grants on Thursday. The state awarded more than $50 million to 50 projects, including $6 million for seven projects in central New York. The village of Cayuga was the lone recipient in Cayuga County.
"Revitalizing and rehabilitating vacant and blighted areas of our communities for housing or development is vital to make downtowns thrive," Hochul said in a statement.
The city applied for a $1 million grant to support local developers who are interested in reopening the diner at its longtime location on Genesee Street above the Owasco River. The group, which includes Auburn Bagel Co. owner Tony Daddabbo and Hollywood agent/producer Matt DelPiano, proposed a $4.8 million project to renovate the diner, which has been closed since 2022.
Without the Restore NY grant, it wasn't immediately clear whether the project would move forward.
