A clear high bidder has emerged to redevelop the ailing Curry Road Plaza, but the bid process has led to a murky outcome.
The Town of Rotterdam received two bids before the Friday, July 13, deadline. Another bid was received just 17 minutes after the 2 p.m. deadline, according to Supervisor Harry Buffardi, and there was also a bid delivered to the wrong location at Schenectady County Metroplex Development Authority’s office. The highest on-time bidder, Columbia Development Companies, appears likely to be awarded the 12-acre site at the center of town for around $1.23 million.
Councilman Robert Godlewski at the end of the Town Board’s meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 8, questioned why nothing was on the agenda regarding the bids, which led Buffardi to recount the less-than-smooth process of receiving bids.
Buffardi on Aug. 8 said the town was “exploring” if the two late bids could be accepted or must be rejected. Town Attorney Kate McGuirl’s preliminary finding is the late proposals can’t be accepted as bids, Buffardi said Tuesday, Aug. 14.
“It didn’t appear to be a simple answer,” Buffardi said.
The Spotlight submitted a FOIL request to the town for copies of all four proposals received. Before The Spotlight went press, only the two on-time bids had been received.
Town Clerk Diane Marco, on Friday, Aug. 10, told The Spotlight she was still working to send the late bids.
Typically, a Request for Proposals seeks the lowest bid for a project, service or purchase. For the plaza, town officials were hoping for higher rather than lower.
Columbia’s bid was more than three times as much as the bid submitted by Forum Industries, Inc., which totaled $375,000 for the plaza.
“The money difference was huge,” Buffardi said. “The bid from Columbia was very strong.”
Buffardi said both late bids were lower than Columbia’s $1.23 million offering, but didn’t offer any more information.
Town officials previously said awarding the bid would be based on more than the top price offered, with the overall positive impact of proposed usage in regards to jobs, investment and creating a new tax base to be considered in the selection.
Buffardi said the town appears legally limited to accept the top “responsible” bid, which includes the ability to secure funding and what zoning changes are proposed.
“[Columbia] is certainly the one in lead consideration right now,” Buffardi said.
Forum’s hand might have been shown, because the now dissolved Rotterdam Industrial Development Agency sent out a request for bids in 2007, in which it submitted a proposal.
Forum’s previous bid was all Buffardi said he had to estimate what might be offered this time around.
“I didn’t have a general expectation, but I knew that when the IDA had bid it out the Forum Industries (bid) was around $360,000. … That was the only thing I had to go by,” Buffardi said.
Forum’s bid proposal consisted of demolishing the two existing commercial buildings, constructing two three-story senior housing buildings with more than 180 units combined, relocating the existing TrustCo Bank to a new 2,500 square-foot building and constructing a 4,000 square-foot building for retail and office space.
Forum indicated in its proposal it had contacted TrustCo bank on the move and terms of a new lease agreement. Also, Forum said it executed an agreement to purchase portions of the property owned by The Golub Corporation. A draft site-plan was also included in its bid.
Columbia’s redevelopment proposal wasn’t as precisely detailed as Forum’s, but its project was similar in scope.
Columbia said it toured the site several times, but a draft site plan hasn’t been completed. It said renovating existing buildings would be “beneficial,” but a full review of the structures would determine the feasibility.
The RFP requires bidders to demolish or renovate existing structures before redeveloping the property.
“We propose to redevelop the site as a retail/office/service plaza either by renovating the existing buildings or constructing new buildings or a combination thereof,” Columbia said in its bid redevelopment concept.
Columbia expects the site to check the interest of retailers, restaurants, service providers, medical offices, brokers and insurance agents.
Housing development was also proposed by Columbia, but it stressed this wasn’t a guaranteed because further analysis is required.
“There is a possibility that we may also want to develop senior or market-rate apartments at the rear portion of the site,” Columbia said in its bid. “This use may be hampered by the fact that there is an existing building on the site that is not owned by the town.”
The town had purchased the parcel from the Golub Corporation for $1, but it held the caveat that anything competing with Price Chopper couldn’t be developed at the site.
A deed restriction also requires a half-acre portion of the property to be used for commercial development, but the majority of the site could be used for commercial or residential development.
Buffardi said he is “anxious” for redevelopment to start at the plaza.
“This has been an eyesore on Curry Road for decades,” he said.
The Rotterdam Town Board is expected to vote on awarding a bid during its next meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 12.
