Two Vacant Houses Torn Down On Homer Ave.

The 2nd and 3rd houses to be torn down in as many weeks took place yesterday in the City of Cortland. A house at 5 – 7 Wheeler ave. was torn down on March 28th.

Yesterday, excavators and dump trucks were busy tearing down walls and roofs and hauling away debris. The work is expected to not take more than a day in total.

Those houses at 157 and 160 Homer Ave. have sat empty for about three years. Originally, you might recall the major redevelopment of the old Gillette warehouse next door was to take place in early 2023. Both houses were to be demolished to make way for a parking lot. That project is still held up currently. No cause was given for the delay in the project.

Calabro Properties is developing the building, called the Gillette Skirt Factory apartments. The project will have 27,000 square feet of residential space consisting of 22 units, and two commercial office spaces in it.

No word on when the project will start.

Local demolition company, Contento’s Demolition did the demo of both houses.

Correction: The houses were torn down voluntarily by Calabro Properties. The City of Cortland Codes Department did declare both houses as unsafe after squatters were found inside numerous times.