Groundbreaking for Binghamton Apartment Complex

It's the dawn of a new era at a well-known address on Binghamton's West Side as a groundbreaking ceremony is held at the site of a big residential and commercial project.

Newman Development Group of Vestal plans to construct a 122-unit apartment complex on a six-acre site at 50 Front Street.

The Broome County Land Bank was awarded $3 million in state funds to help demolish the abandoned Sheraton Inn building, which opened as a luxury hotel in 1959.

The groundbreaking event will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday. Local elected officials are scheduled to speak, along with regional economic development officials.

Plans call for a parking area under the five-story building. Construction on the 135,000-square-foot complex is to get underway by late summer. It is expected to be completed in early 2019.

Developers say most of the building's apartments will have one or two bedrooms, although a few will have three bedrooms.

Workers from Gorick Construction Company of Binghamton started to demolish the old structure a couple of weeks ago. A significant portion of the building has already been taken down.

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