Well, at least it will bring this subject to light again. Isn't it just a shame...things just never go smoothly in Rotterdam.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Plan to redevelop Curry Road plaza moving slowly Friday, June 6, 2008 By Justin Mason (Contact) Gazette Reporter
ROTTERDAM — Plans to redevelop the dilapidated Curry Road Shopping Center may be moving ahead slowly, but they're still progressing, according to a builder involved in the deal.
Dan Polito, a principal in Polito-Columbia Properties LLC., said a deal is in the works with the town, the Golub Corp. and Trustco Bank that should soon allow his company to move forward with plans to build 94 two-bedroom condominiums on the property. He said a draft of the purchase contract was sent to Golub for review last week and is now being reviewed.
"It is progressing slowly, but it is progressing," he said.
Part of the delay lies in the complexity of a deal involving three businesses and the town, which technically owns the property. All but an acre of the original 12-acre parcel was originally donated to the town by Golub after the company was unsuccessful in securing tenants for the site.
Polito-Columbia is now negotiating for the final slice of land, while also seeking to relocate Golub's print shop, the only tenant remaining in the largest building on the property. Simultaneously, Polito said his company is negotiating a deal to move the Trustco branch, which has a lease for space in the plaza's smaller building until 2011.
The project includes a plan to move the bank branch into a new retail building that would be built facing Curry Road. Polito said the bank has been receptive to the proposed relocation.
"They're very interested in moving to the front of this parcel," he said.
ROTTERDAM Developer: Deal in works on condominium project BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Justin Mason at 395-3113 or jmason@dailygazette.net
Plans to redevelop the dilapidated Curry Road Shopping Center may be slow, but they are progressing, a builder involved in the deal said. Dan Polito, of Polito-Columbia Properties LLC., said a deal is in the works with the Golub Corp., the town and Trustco Bank, which should soon allow the his company to move forward on plans to build 94 two-bedroom condominiums on the property. He said a draft of the purchase contract was sent to Golub for review recently. “It is progressing slowly, but it is progressing,” he said last week. Part of the delay lies in a the complexity of a deal involving three businesses and the town, which technically owns the property. All but an acre of the original 12-acre parcel was originally donated to the town by Golub, after the company was unsuccessful in securing tenants for the site. Polito-Columbia is now negotiating for the fi nal slice of land, while also seeking to relocate Golub’s print shop, the only tenant remaining in the largest building on the property. Simultaneously, Polito said his company is negotiating a deal to move the Trustco branch, which has a leased a space in the plaza’s smaller building until 2011. The redevelopment project proposes to move the bank into a new retail building that would be built facing Curry Road. Polito said the bank has been very receptive to the proposed relocation. “They’re very interested in moving to the front of this parcel,” he said. Town officials had sought grant funding for the project through the Restore NY Communities Initiative, a state program designed to aid municipalities in rehabilitating or removing obsolete or rundown commercial and residential properties. But Rotterdam was not among the communities awarded funds during a second round of grants issued in January. Supervisor Steve Tommasone said the lack of grant funding hadn’t affected the progress of the deal. Though he admitted the project was taking a bit longer than originally anticipated, he expressed optimism an agreement could soon be reached between all the parties involved. “They are very close to an agreement,” he said. When contacted about the deal, a Price Chopper spokeswoman reiterated that Price Chopper would encourage “the development and practical use of that property.”
ROTTERDAM Redevelopment projects plod on BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
The longest and arguably most visible sign of a stalled commercial redevelopment effort lies about a half-mile from the vacant CVSowned property, at the former Curry Road Shopping Center. Efforts to redevelop the plaza have dragged along since August 2007, when town officials voted to sell the property to a private developer proposing to build 94 two-bedroom condominiums and a modest streetfront retail space. During the early 1980s, the 77,000-square-foot plaza supported a Kmart and several businesses. When Kmart vacated the anchor store in 1989, the company tried to sublet its space to Price Chopper, while the owners of the plaza attempted to lease the store to Hannaford Brothers. The companies engaged in legal sparing for more than five years until Price Chopper bought the property outright in 1996. The Golub Corp., Price Chopper’s parent company, initially discussed moving offices to the plaza but faced difficulties during the planning process because of the property’s location on Curry Road. Instead, the badly deteriorated plaza remained largely vacant for nearly a decade until 2003, when Golub donated it to the town to establish a new government center. After mulling uses for the property for several years, the town decided to offer it for private development. They eventually awarded the redevelopment project to Polito-Columbia Properties LLC, which has since been negotiating a deal to move Golub’s print shop and a Trustco Bank — the only tenants remaining within the sprawling plaza. Dan Polito, a principal with the development group, said the deal to redevelop the property is still chugging forward, only slowly. He said the deal is complicated because the tenants need to be relocated and due to lingering environmental issues. The state Department of Environmental Conservation required a cleanup at the property because a dry-cleaning business once located there caused ground contamination. State health officials indicated that they will continue to monitor air quality around the property until its buildings are destroyed. Polito was unsure when the deal would finally be completed. However, he said the project would eventually move forward. “It’s a pretty complicated deal,” said Polito. “We certainly want to move forward with the project and Golub certainly wants to move forward with the project, it’s just that we have some issues we need to get around.”
Ok, I have only one question.....Who presently owns the Curry Road Shopping plaza property? Did Polito-Columbia Properties LLC purchase it? Are they paying taxes on it? Or is this still in the 'proposal' phase?
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
I would hope that when the developer bought the property, he started paying taxes on it, but the fact that you are questioning that leads me to believe that he hasn't paid a dime in taxes.
Just looked at the town website under Town Services / Assessor's Office/ OARS and low and behold you are on to something Bumble. The property is not even listed as existing as a parcel of land. Imagine that, a property worth 4 million dollars and who is paying taxes on it? That has to be more than 100K a year in lost revenue..... How does that developer just get the parcel to disappear on the tax map?
Thanks for checking. I didn't know if the gazette article was mis-leading or not. If it is off the tax rolls, than I guess that Rotterdam still owns it from when Golub gave it to them. Though it the parcel should still be on the tax roll. Soooo....I guess this Polito-Columbia Properties LLC is still only in the proposal phase.
I would have hoped that the town would have had a 'time frame' in place when the redevelopment project was awarded to Polito.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
I know this doesn't have to do with this land, but I can tell you at least that the former Grand Union over on Hamburg St. is on the tax rolls. Did you know that the Rollarama is assessed higher than the Grand Union? Grand Union is assessed at $450,000. Rollarama...$1,060,000.
Good thing the eyesore's not bringing down the value of Rollarama, a fully functional business bringing tax revenue in to the county. (Rollarama's address is 2710 Hamburg, GU's is 2696 Hamburg)
ROTTERDAM Contamination quashes plaza condo plan BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
Environmental contamination at the former Curry Road Shopping Center has caused a major snag in plans to redevelop the plaza. Dan Polito, a principal with Polito-Columbia Properties LLC, said the contamination from a former dry-cleaning business has quashed plans to build 94 two-bedroom condominiums on the roughly 10 acres of town-owned land. He said these issues would cause liabilities that would make the project unfeasible unless the residential component was eliminated. “We would have loved to do condominiums, because that is what really made the project,” he said recently. “We knew we’d run into too many issues.” Polito said the environmental concerns could have been corrected with special equipment. But the added cost would have made the project too expensive, especially in a troubled economy. Polito said his company will go back to the drawing board to design a project that will include only commercial buildings. Such development would face far less scrutiny by the state Department of Environmental Conservation because the people working and using commercial buildings wouldn’t have as much exposure to the property’s contamination as people living on site. Commercial buildings also tend to have more impervious surfaces. DEC Spokesman Rick Georgeson said fewer fumes would permeate concrete and asphalt than lawn space. “There would have to be a higher level of cleanup for residential,” he said. During the early 1980s, the 77,000-square-foot plaza supported a Kmart and several other businesses. When Kmart vacated the anchor store spot in 1989, it tried to sublet its space to Price Chopper, while the owners of the plaza attempted to lease the store to Hannaford Brothers. The companies engaged in legal sparring for more than fi ve years until Price Chopper bought the property outright in 1996. The Golub Corp., Price Chopper’s parent company, initially discussed moving offices to the plaza but faced difficulties during the planning process because of the property’s location on Curry Road. Instead, the badly deteriorated plaza remained largely vacant for nearly a decade until 2003, when Golub donated it to the town to establish a new government center. But the town instead decided to offer the property for private development. Golub wasn’t opposed to the change of focus, but stipulated the property couldn’t be redeveloped by a competing grocer. In April 2007, the town issued a request for proposals, including the issues affecting any project there, to about 80 companies. Although six companies responded, only three pitched redevelopment plans, including the Polito-Columbia proposal. Among the three submitted proposals, only one included a plan that would use the property solely for commercial development. The Town Board selected the Polito-Columbia proposal in August 2007, when it agreed to allow Supervisor Steve Tommasone to negotiate a sale of the property with the developer. Tommasone was dismayed the residential component of the project wouldn't work out. He said the town will allow Polito-Columbia to rework its plan, but would like to move forward on redeveloping the property this year. “If they're still interested in ...........................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00902
What a pig in a poke. Be careful about accepting gift horses. ALWAYS look in their mouths........
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
I'm sooooooooo freakin' excited that it will probably end up cheesey green/orange/purple striped storage sheds......for all the stuff Sal's seniors cant fit into their new in-law apartments/senior housing........
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
This has been known for years - Golub didn't give it away cause he was being a nice guy, it was too expensive to clean up.
Exactly! I thought that EVERYONE knew this! But I was under the understanding that this developer was going to pay for the clean up...no?
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
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