Meanwhile, Huppert says the group is two months away from closing on its $425,000 acquisition of the historic Marcourt Building at 744 Market St., which it will transform into Bridge Lofts, and is just beginning exclusive negotiations with the city to acquire the parking lot next door, on which it plans to develop an 85-unit apartment building.

Like Triangle Townhomes, the owners of Bridge Lofts units will receive a 10-year property tax abatement, and CCDP will receive an additional tax credit for the ground floor commercial component, says Huppert. The $4 million project will see 14 loft-style one- and two-bedroom units built into the upper floors of the 1930s structure and 4,000 sf of street-level retail space, for which Huppert says there is interest from a restaurateur. The initial asking price for the residential units will be $300 per sf. For the equity portion of the project, Huppert says Catapult Community Development Partners has assembled a group of private investors. The project is set to begin in May and be complete in early 2005.

For the parking lot next door, at 730 Market St., Huppert says the group is conducting a preliminary feasibility study and investors have yet to be identified. At its Feb. 24 meeting, the City Council approved a letter of intent authorizing it to begin negotiating a disposition and development agreement with CCDP. The proposed project is a 100,000-sf mixed-use building that would include ground floor retail space, between 80 and 85 apartment units on the upper floors and 73 stalls of replacement parking for the City.