ROTTERDAM ‘Green’ apartment complex proposed BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Justin Mason at 395-3113 or jmason@dailygazette.net.
Rotterdam could be the first town in the state to have a greenminded apartment complex that produces as much or more energy than its tenants consume. David Bruns of the Bruns Realty Group is proposing to construct a 10-building, 156-unit apartment complex on 17 acres off Burdeck Street, provided the site gets a zone change. The entire development — from its super-insulated buildings to its drought-resistant landscaping — is designed to be eco-friendly, he states. The primary feature of the complex will be its ability to produce as much energy as tenants consume. Bruns said the buildings will still be attached to the grid, but will produce their own energy and at times, sell some of it back. “Most of that energy will be produced through renewable sources,” he said. “There’s really nothing else like it around here.” Among other amenities, the design is to include a rainwater capture system that tenants will use for laundry, toilet water and irrigation. Passive solar design, higheffi ciency fixtures and geothermal heat will help keep the buildings from requiring much energy to operate. Prospective tenants will have utilities included in the cost of their rent. Bruns hopes to market the apartments to the environmentally conscious, perhaps to workers from General Electric’s Renewable Energy headquarters in nearby Schenectady. “It’s kind of a dream project for me,” he said. “It’s something I’ve thought about for a long time.” The project would also bring a property valued at $1.1 million back onto the tax rolls. The land is now owned by the Tennessee-based Mid-America Student Housing, a group affiliated with the taxexempt Northeast Branch of the Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary. The land was originally zoned for commercial use and a shopping mall was slated there in 1998. But the project never came to fruition after receiving a cool reception from residents and the land was later sold to the Baptists, who were hoping to construct dormitory housing for a seminary. The project included 112 dormitory units and the conversion of 24 existing units from the adjacent Carefree Village apartment complex. The new seminary was aimed at replacing a facility on Curry Road. But the seminary project never got under way. One stumbling block was a massive septic system that was proposed for the project at a cost of nearly a half-million dollars. Town officials and the Baptists were hoping the septic system would be a temporary fix. Both were banking on a sewer line to be constructed along nearby Route 7. A privately funded project to build a sewer line to the Princetown border was mulled several years ago. But the abrupt downturn in the economy cooled interest in building the line. ........................>>>>...............>>>>..........................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01202&AppName=1
Put it back on the tax rolls? No PILOT? No other tax credits?
The process is change the zoning first
And just where on burdeck are we talking?
Next to the thruway or by the sewer plant
Noise or smell you pick it
I see our town planner and the planning board are hard at work
As someone once stated here - one million dollars in assessed value reduces my town taxes by ONE dollar a year and every million after that decreases that dollar by Pennies - the next million 99cents then 98 cents
And that doesnt factorin the increased cost of services required - water, planning, police.....
How about some jobs that pay some dough - and I dont mean pizza
I see our town planner and the planning board are hard at work
As someone once stated here - one million dollars in assessed value reduces my town taxes by ONE dollar a year and every million after that decreases that dollar by Pennies - the next million 99cents then 98 cents
And that doesnt factorin the increased cost of services required - water, planning, police.....
How about some jobs that pay some dough - and I dont mean pizza
Intresting project, if they are using all these green items I guess they would not need to tie into the sewerline? That could be plus as a standard large development would tie into the sewerline and burden the aging system even more.
Intresting project, if they are using all these green items I guess they would not need to tie into the sewerline? That could be plus as a standard large development would tie into the sewerline and burden the aging system even more.
Still doesnt solve the problem of removing the solid waste Rotterdam is at its limits for sewage disposa You still need to process the solid waste via sewer or via pumping
Lets fix the fondation before we build the 3 or 4 story
anyone know where those "green nickels" from cans/bottles go that are not claimed....I tried to 'see the $$ trail'.... it dead-ended....anyone else feeling the luck of the 'green' wanna try?
...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