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ITHACA -- The developer
of a proposed office building and hotel in downtown Ithaca has cleared one
of the major hurdles that line the way to a planned late summer
groundbreaking.
The Tompkins County
Industrial Development Agency on Tuesday approved the Buffalo-based
Ciminelli Development Co.'s request for nearly $3.9 million in property and
sales tax breaks for the $26 million project.
"This was a really
significant step," David Chiazza, Ciminelli's vice president for
development, said after Tuesday's meeting, noting that he first appeared
before the IDA in July. "We're happy with today's result."
The IDA took two
separate votes on the project. The agency first voted 7-0 to approve a
resolution showing the agency's support for financial incentives for the
not-for-profit part of the project -- office space that about 300 Cornell
University employees would occupy --and the city's environmental review of
the project.
It then voted 6-1 to
approve Ciminelli's tax abatement requests, with county Legislator Peter
Penniman, D-Ulysses and Enfield, voting no.
Penniman said before
the vote that he had a problem with the hotel portion of Ciminelli's
project because it caused the funding gap that prompted Ciminelli to
request the tax abatements. But he said he supported the creation of office
space that would bring about 300 Cornell University employees downtown.
"The potential
benefits are tremendous," he said.
Under the tax abatement
package, Ciminelli would pay a discounted but gradually increasing amount
of property taxes over 20 years. After that time, it would pay taxes on the
full value of the property.
The agency granted the
tax abatements under its density policy, which aims to promote downtown
development and discourage sprawl by offering financial incentives to
developers based on the height of the building they're constructing or
renovating.
Ciminelli also has
requested $10 million in tax-exempt bonds to help finance the
not-for-profit portion of the project, the office space that Cornell
employees would occupy.
IDA members were
scheduled to vote Tuesday on those bonds and up to $20 million in
tax-exempt bonds for the City of Ithaca's parking garage and retail project
south of the Tompkins County Public Library.
The agency postponed
votes on both bond requests pending more information on the financing of
the parking garage project, which will provide parking for some of the
people who would work in Ciminelli's building.
The IDA also voted 6-1
Tuesday to approve a resolution for the parking garage project that said
the agency agreed with the city's assessment of the project's environmental
impacts and supported financial incentives for it.
Penniman also voted
against that resolution. He said he was "troubled" that the city
likely will not be able to pay for the entire parking garage project
through higher parking rates, and that he thought the total subsidy,
coupled with Ciminelli's tax abatements, was too great.
County Legislature
Chairman Tim Joseph, D-Town of Ithaca, said that while he agreed that there
was more of a subsidy than it first appeared, "I still think it is
worth it."
Ithaca Alderman Dan
Cogan, D-5th Ward, and Legislator Kathy Luz Herrera, D-City of Ithaca, said
they thought the projects would help keep downtown healthy and vital. Cogan
argued that he thought the cost of not undertaking the Cayuga Green and
Ciminelli projects would be "very high."
The other hurdles that
Ciminelli has yet to clear include approvals from the Ithaca Landmarks
Preservation Commission and the city's Planning and Development Board;
control of the site at the northwest corner of North Tioga and East Seneca
streets; and the finalization of an agreement between Ciminelli and the
city about parking and other issues.
The IDA also was
scheduled Tuesday to vote on $1.4 million in property and sales tax
abatements requested by Lansing-based Advion BioSciences and its developer
for a 48,700-square-foot building in the Cornell Business and Technology
Park.
The agency postponed
the vote at Advion's request. Developer Philip Proujansky, managing partner
of Integrated Acquisition and Development, said Advion was working on its
five-year business plan and that it wanted to make sure its financial
projections were accurate. He said the company could appear before the
Industrial Development Agency in May.
Originally published
Wednesday, April 9, 2003
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