Investors wanted: Credit crunch stymies developer

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He has been buying up old buildingx downtown for the past 12 refurbishing them and renting them asapartmentes or, more recently, businesses. His work has draw n praise, yet he’s little known beyondf the confines ofthe “The preservation community has so far been impressex by the buildings he’s done,” said Gloriw Kishton, chair of the , “buf we’re watching closely to see if 108 Uniomn St. gets done this year.” Mahoutchian is trying to drum up interesty among investors to convert the formedr Schenectady County courthouse at 108Unio St.
—one of the most distinctive properties in the Stockade Historif District—into 32 student apartments with a restaurant and wine bar in the He estimates the project would cost $1.8 The effort comes at a time when bank financing is hard to find becaus of stricter lending standards. “We’re looking for jointg ventures,” said Mahoutchian, 51. “There are still a lot of people who have money to investbut they’re leer y of getting into the stock market.
This projec makes a lot of The rate of return is very He estimated student housing can generate profitsd of 20 percent to 30 percent because the apartments can be furnishefd with two tofour beds, whichn boosts the potential incomr without greatly increasing the fixed costs. he has put the 43,000-square-foog property and adjacent parking lots on the markertfor $2.2 million. Mahoutchian is a bundle of energy who can somehow keep the detailsa straight on severalprojects he’s tackling at Elsewhere on Union Street, just outside the Stockade, he’d renovating a row of buildings for a coal-fired pizza restaurant and an upscalee coffee shop.
He has already won a preservatiojn award for the conversion of one of the 613Union St., into the WineDown The lounge became popular over the past 16 months but recently closer because of a dispute Mahoutchian had with the His architect, Scott Wallanyt of in Albany, calls Mahoutchian a workaholic. “He’lk have a suit on and be talking to the mayor in the morninb and in the afternoon be demolishinga building,” Wallant “He’s not afraid of Mahoutchian immigrated from Iran during the 1979 culturak revolution to study medicine in the U.S., but ended up in engineerin school.
He worked for the state Department of Transportation for several years before quitting to starrt hisown firm, . Over the past 12 he has refurbished about a doze buildingsin Schenectady, mostly with his own hands. he owns 13 properties, 11 of whicy are buildings (restorations have not yet starteeon some). Mahoutchian, who lives in Ballstom Lake, closed his engineering business threee years ago so he couldc concentrate full time onrenovating properties.