Powerpoint Slideshow

ROTTERDAM

Rotterdam Army Depot/Rotterdam Industrial Park

Before • No new construction since Army Depot closed in 1969 • No Empire Zone • No new tax base • Logical place to build Rotterdam tax base without impacting quality of life, yet nothing is done

• Private economic development group in County competing with owner of park for tenants and space – luring tenants to other parts of County – inherent conflict of interest • No effort to place closed State Bakery/Building 14 back on tax rolls even though building at 220,000 square feet is one of the largest in County

After • Rotterdam Corporate Park – new name new brand • New entrance • Improved access road • New Rail Spur built by County IDA/Metroplex • New $7 million FedExFreight facility 60 jobs

• New $15 million Price Chopper Freezer 70 jobs

• New $5 million DEC regional office 100 jobs

• New 250,000 square foot Railex facility -- $25 million, 300 jobs

• Building 14 former State Bakery at 220,000 square feet going back on tax rolls New tenants for building – now able to market 100k square feet that is vacant • Building 3 $2 million Restore NY Grant to create 220,000 square foot small business center with ready to go 11,000 square foot bays for growing businesses – 2 tenants already more to come • Other new tenants like Op-Tech filling Corporate Park

• Empire Zone shared by City creating major new tax base in Rotterdam due to unified economic development effort • Rotterdam Corporate Park now largest Business Park in Capital Region – over 3 million square feet

Campbell Plastics

Before • Plant vacant • Previous economic development director promise of 200 jobs never materialized • Company never moved in • Building poorly managed. Building collapsed. No insurance

• Building off tax rolls • Buildings problems cost County IDA $200,000, lost taxes $900,000

After • Site cleaned up • Recruited Williams Scotsman – national company as tenant

• Site back on tax rolls • Sale netted county $500,000 toward back taxes • Condos on property too

Looking ahead Rotterdam • Continued smart growth at Rotterdam Corporate Park • McLanes site/sewer looking for prospects and potential funding for sewer line needed to develop site • Hamburg Street commercial corridor • Vstream trying to add this and former Edgecomb Steel to Empire Zone – key manufacturing/tech area in Rotterdam

Glenville

Stratton Air Guard Base

Before • No base retention effort despite state grants to set up • Lease with Air Force expired along with Joint Use Agreement as BRAC approached

After • Set up vigorous base defense system • Prepared for BRAC • Worked with NYS delegation base removed from BRAC list and kept four planes from moving to Arkansas – joint effort with SMAC. 1,400 jobs saved • Navy Reserve Center $20 million project – 293 Navy from Albany, 100 Navy from Glens Falls, 259 Army Guard, 225 Marines, 50 FTE’s

Airport Development

Before • Plan prepared in 1985 for business park at airport but never implemented despite fact that Glenville badly needed new tax base

After • Created Airport Business Park • Netted County $1.05 million for sale of land and put land on tax rolls • Fortitech facility and campus on 20 acres– first building opening 4/2

• New access road built on time and on budget

• Now showing other sites at Airport Business Park Plus, new hangar at airport creating new tax base and lease income for County with no cost to County vs. old concept of putting county into hangar business • Approval gained for Patriot Square and new access road to be built to connect Rudy Chase Drive along airport perimeter to create new shovel ready sites for mixed use development

• Efforts now to upgrade FBO as important gateway to community • New airport business plan

Former Naval Depot in Scotia

Before • Like Rotterdam Depot logical spot to develop new jobs and tax base • Poor condition, federal property off the tax rolls • Money awarded for shovel ready in Glenville but never drawn down

After • Shifted shovel ready state funding to create shovel ready sites at Glenville Business and Technology Park • Sold Burgess site netting County $100k and back on tax rolls – gateway to park cleaned up • GSA property being sold and put back on tax rolls

• GSA clean up and transfer of 60 acres • Sealed Air $2 million investment • Safway $1 million investment • Glenville Park meeting with tenants to do general upgrades

Glenville Goals • Former Kmart • Commercial Corridor for Scotia • McDonald’s • Super Steel • Freemans Bridge site -- $500k owed to County

Niskayuna

Before • Nova 190,000 square feet empty • No development at 100 plus acre Hillside facility despite fact that this was logical site for development and jobs. Also former military facility

After • 190,000 square feet filled • Unilux 67,000 square feet $7 million 50 jobs

• New access road shovel ready sites around Unilux as anchor tenant • Now Niskayuna Tech Park

Plus • GE projects • $25 million – 75,000 square foot expansion • 10,000 square foot prototype manufacturing plant • 113,000 square foot C Wing upgrade not demo

• 16,800 expansion to Energy Learning Center – key win to get gas turbine training and wind training here • Full spectrum RDTE/pilot manufacturing/full scale manufacturing and training now available here

Niskayuna Goals • Fill St. James – efforts this year

• River Road office building • Niskayuna side of Upper Union Street • Balltown Road new construction at former oil change site already underway

GE

Before • Reactive relationship • Myth that main plant had only developable land in county • Land effort without understanding need for ROD and consent order • Failure to understand order book

After • Commitment to GE to take relationship to higher level • ROD and consent order • Worked thru sales tax • Niskayuna three expansions • Training center was key

• Wind jobs 150 followed • Renewable Energy Center – 200,000 square foot, $40 million 500 new jobs • 100 production jobs

Aquifer Protection

Before • Not one aquifer violation issued • No effort to market water as economic development tool

After • Vigorous review of every project near aquifer • New legislation passed to protect aquifer • Vigorous enforcement • Water – Schenectady County’s best economic development tool

Brownfield clean ups

Before • Little activity • Sites cleaned up with little re-use potential – near City highway garage

After • Parking lots cleaned with ERP money • Lot 6 cleaned up after soil illegally dumped there • Duane Avenue clean up • Cleanup of National Grid site across from 797 Broadway • Former Big N

• Peek Street site • GSA Glenville • KAPL best option selected • Freemans Bridge site • GE main plant Cleanups also create economic activity

Green Buildings and projects

Before • Little activity

After • Downtown District Energy serving Proctors, Hotel and Center City and potential for future expansion • Golub HQ Leeds • Union Graduate College geo-thermal heat • GE Building 53 Leeds

• Bike Path • Secured grant for Upper Union/Niskayuna to downtown bike path via Central Park and Vale Park • Bike path is economic development • Secured grant to connect bike/hike path ended in SCCC lot to Stockade, then down Union to North Jay to Niskayuna

• Rotterdam crossing and link from Amsterdam to Sch’dy via Rotterdam

Canal Square

Before • Five empty buildings not on the tax rolls – owned by IDA • Vacant lot at corner of Broadway and State

Bechtel

Before • Pilot – no county and school taxes for 20 years • Minimal City taxes $1 square foot after 20 years • Bechtel announces departure

After • Bechtel decision to leave reversed 160 high paying jobs saved • New pilot put in place with real tax payments • Closed Sunoco becomes new Union Grad School

Center City

Before • Off the tax rolls with Pilot locked at flat $10k for 20 years • Building run down in heart of city • Tried soccer but they play outside 8 months a year so not enough rent to support costs

After • Sold and put on tax rolls • Taxes $100k • UDAG paid back $750k • New tenants MVP and more to come

Pizza Block

Diamond Cinema Site

Before • Site demo and site work underway without signed contracts for 14 screen multiplex with no hard money or signed deals

Federal Renewal Community

Before • Lost $48 million • Schenectady last place among 40 RC’s in US

After • Program fully utilized but cannot get lost credits back

Train Station

Before • $30 million plan with no reality just a drawing – federal match done incorrectly

Big N

Before • Vacant eyesore

After • New 260k office for Golub HQ • Biggest brownfield success story in Upstate NY

Broadway

Before • Dorp Salvage • Broken buildings despite major entrance way • Messy gateway

401 State

Carls

MVP

409 State Street

OPM

• Over $30 million in OPM wins – state/federal grants • Full utilization of RC and other programs

Pilots

Before • Pilots not taking advantage of Empire Zone • Lost $20 million plus

After • Fixed pilots

Staff

Before • 6 at Metroplex

After • 4.5

County

Before • 8 at Planning

After • 7.5 at Planning • Only three at Planning not supported by some grant funding

Town Payments

Before • $0

After • $29 million – record amount in 2008 due to sales tax activity level

Construction Coordination

Before • State Street work bogged down projects often torn up two or three times

After • 178 weekly construction coordination meetings

City IDA

Before • Money borrowed from City but never paid back • Properties collected and neglected

After • City paid back $335k • Five buildings and four properties sold and put back on tax rolls

County IDA

Before • Loan fund failure rate 40% • Owed County $350k

After • County paid back $350k • Loan fund terminated

Audits and Spending

Before • Economic development group had no audited financials

After • Audits every year • External and internal controls • Compliance with Public Authorities Law • OSC Audit

World Trade Center

Before • WTC cost $4 million for land and annual support over 10 years with minimal results

After • Sold WTC franchise saving County $200k each year

Business Center

Before • Very few tenants • Costly to County to operate

After • 25,000 square feet filled, central spot for small business support • Much reduced County support costs – Metroplex staff and manage under unified plan • Reduced staff

Employed in County • 70,400 in 2003 • 72,600 in 2007 • 72,066 in 2008 • More people working in County than at any point in 28 years

Labor Force • 73,700 in 2003 • 76,300 in 2007 • 76,000 in 08 • Highest since 1990

Overall goals and looking ahead

Smart Growth Business Parks with Shovel Ready Sites • Glenville Business and Technology Park • Patriots Square • Airport Tech Park • Niskayuna Tech Park • Office park at renamed St. James Square

• Rotterdam Corporate Park • Opus Business Park consider renaming • I-88 Park • Broadway Commerce Park • College Park • Mohawk Landing • 890 Business Park

City Progress • Down Broadway to Proctors Block down Jay to College Park • Fix Erie with OPM • Lower State – Student housing

Key Commercial Corridors • City and towns replicate success of Upper Union Street

Training • Need much more focused effort – youth training, One-Stop at 797 Broadway, new initiatives at SCCC • Need to work harder and smarter given down national economy

Van Dyck • Tried to save venue at a time when there was little other activity in City and just after Diamond Cinema was cancelled • $275k loans • $100k plus recovered through auction • Now pursuing personal guarantees

• Kept the name – cleared up title • New venue will generate sales tax revenue that will recover amount between amount recovered to date and $275k

411 State Street

Before • Two empty dollar stores downtown

• Needed to move development across State Street • Provided secured loan of $1 million plus $250k façade grant

• All money went into building • Additional private investment in building = $1.9 • All of this went into building • Developer ran into greatly increased scope and increased costs for this four floor 26k square foot building • Developer ran short of funding before building was completed

• Finished office space in past three months to get owner occupancy • Pursued SBA guarantee once building was owner occupied • Lending environment limited ability to close loan even with SBA guarantee • Developer now taking on investor to finish the project

Questions and Answers