Cary gives $10,000 to help restore 160-year-old downtown building

The new owner of a 160-year-old structure in downtown Cary that’s now an apartment building is looking to restore the exterior to its original state with the help of a $10,000 grant from the village.

The Cary Street Apartment building, 109 Cary St., was built circa 1865 and served as the Freeman Boarding House in the early 1900s, housing workers during construction of railroad lines and gravel mines in the area.

“This is one of the oldest properties in the city of Cary, and one of the oldest surviving structures,” property owner Nick Prager said.

Prager wants to restore the historical facade by adding a wrap-around porch, new stucco and paint repairs. Costs are estimated at about $57,500, according to village documents.

“This is something that’s going to make the look and feel of downtown more spectacular,” he said.

To reach his goal, Prager asked the village to cover $10,000 through the Facade Improvement and Interior Buildout Grant Program, which is typically reserved for commercial and mixed-use buildings. The maximum contribution is $10,000 or half the total eligible costs, whichever is less, according to village documents.

The program is not meant for renovations for residential buildings, individual residential units or common areas. But after some discussion, the village board unanimously approved the grant as a one-time exception.

“Although the building is utilized for multifamily residential use, due to the significant nature of the proposed improvement and the property owners’ desire to restore the historical facade of the building with the planned improvement, staff believed the grant request warranted further review and discussion by the Village Board,” village documents read.

Trustee Rick Dudek suggested that the board may want to establish a historic preservation fund in the future, as many older residential buildings are downtown.

“Shame on us that we don’t have that,” he said, “which may be why some people don’t put money in their historic buildings.”

Prager, who also is a Cary resident, calls this his “passion project.” He said he hopes his restoration efforts spur inspiration for other property owners to reinvest in their buildings.

“I’m really into restoring old properties. It’s just an obsession of mine,” he said.

With the added porch, the building would only be 8 feet from the road, requiring a future zoning variance that would need to be approved village officials.

“I love every part of this proposal,” Mayor Mark Kownick said. “This is something that we can be proud of. This is a part of our community that we really want to start investing in, and it starts with us.”