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IDA balks at tax
deal
by Chris Simonds
The Independent
Friday, May 2, 2008
Greenport—Tuesday's vote by a key agency not to consider property and other tax breaks could sink the big Greenport Commons shopping plaza project on Route 9.
"I'm very disappointed," said Marco Marzocchi of the Widewaters Group, developers of the plaza in an interview after the decision. The denial by the Columbia County Industrial Development Agency, he said, "may have placed the project in jeopardy."
At this point the project consists of a Wal-Mart Super Center, already under construction. Because Wal-Mart will own the building and the land it sits on, its property was not included in the Widewaters bid for tax breaks.
IDA Executive Director James Galvin said after the meeting that the unanimous vote of the agency's board had not denied the Widewaters request.
"The IDA gathers information and then decides if it will accept the request for consideration" he told The Independent.
"The benefits asked for were for undetermined tenants. We told Widewaters that because they had no signed leases, at this time we could not consider that project. If they have several unique [to Columbia County] tenants, they can come back for consideration," Mr. Galvin said.
The IDA received more than 35 written comments opposing the tax benefits, including one from the 850-member Columbia County Chamber of Commerce.
"We feel that it would be unfair to other businesses and not in the spirit of the IDA to give the project incentives at this time," Chamber President David Colby wrote. "Widewaters is already under construction and should not be counting on the incentives to make their project viable. They [earlier] stated they were not going to ask for incentives. The only reason they can at this time is that the state allowed the rules against retail qualifications to sunset.
"We believe that there are good reasons why this type of development did not previously qualify and ask that the Columbia County IDA adopt their own rules about this type of retail project qualifying for IDA benefits," said Mr. Colby.
Mr. Marzocchi said yesterday, "We're in an economic environment where retailers are rethinking their goals and strategies—particularly in smaller markets like Greenport/Hudson. They're going where they can be sure of bigger volumes and more sales. How do we entice them here? By lowering their costs—and the tax benefits would have done just that."
The IDA, he said, "missed a very important opportunity yesterday, but they didn't close the door absolutely. There's some room for discussion and compromise, so maybe we can go back and get it done."
Widewaters will proceed with infrastructure improvements—turning lanes on Route 9, and a traffic signal at its northerly intersection with Joslen Boulevard—mandated in the site plan approval it received from the Greenport Planning Board.
The developer had hoped to put two more big-box stores—Lowe's home improvement and Kohl's department store were mentioned frequently—and a slew of smaller retail shops and a restaurant or two in the 565,000-square-foot project on 140 acres.
At this point, Widewaters owns only a quarter to a third of the acreage it hopes to develop, according to Mr. Marzocchi.
At an IDA meeting April 11, Mr. Marzocchi and attorney John Faso presented figures showing that the plaza, when fully built and occupied, would add more than $5 million to the annual sales tax take for the county and its city and towns, while bringing in 954 full-time equivalent jobs.
Widewaters seeks:
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