Jeff Flagg, the Glens Falls economic development director, said in a quick interview Dec. 10 that he thought yesterday's FoothillsBusinessDaily.com headline about South Street was a bit misleading.
He said the intent of working with Bonacio Construction was always to sell the two properties at Elm Street near the intersection with South Street, not just to renovate them. The city has planned to use $1.5 million of its $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant money to help Bonacio renovate those buildings after purchase.
He said the amount to sell the buildings for was up for discussion at yesterday's Local Development Corporation meeting because that determines how much DRI money the city would have to pay to help with the renovation; if Bonacio pays less for the building, they have money to invest in redevelopment, and the city could use some of the earmarked $1.5 million in another portion of the project, Flagg said this morning.
[The project includes redevelopment of nearly two blocks of South Street near the intersection with Elm Street. Read more here and here.]
The easy move is for the Local Development Corporation, which owns the buildings, to sell them at the appraised value. However, there are mechanisms that would allow a sale for less than appraised value, Flagg said.
He said the city has a “suite of tools” to support the project and to negotiate in order to make sure the city has enough money to build what they want—the farmer’s market pavilion on South Street and programming space in other portions of the redevelopment—and that Bonacio has enough incentive to buy and renovate the buildings.
The city, the Industrial Development Agency or LDC may be able to use tools like tax incentives, the sale price, or the length or cost of a lease the city would have with Bonacio to run programming in the buildings once renovated.
“These are all sliding scales,” he said.