Vista Technology Campus developers are looking to cash in on a more than decade-old agreement with Albany County for $1 million.
In 2003, county officials awarded Vista Development Group LCC, a partnership between Columbia Development and BBL Construction Services, a $1 million grant to help cover costs of building infrastructure at the 450-acre site in the towns of Bethlehem and New Scotland. However, releasing the funds is contingent on meeting a job creating benchmark, which developers claim has been satisfied.
Joseph Nicolla, president of Columbia Development, wrote a letter on Jan. 21 to Legislature Majority Leader Frank Commisso requesting the grant funding promised in 2003.
Legislature Chairman Shawn Morse on Tuesday, Feb. 10, sent the resolution releasing the Albany County Advantage funds to the Audit and Finance Committee for further review. Legislators did not comment on the proposal during its meeting that night.
County officials and developers have previously clashed over releasing $1 million. Four years ago, the county was concerned about the lack of high-tech jobs at the site, which is what the money was meant to support, as reported in January 2011.
Developers eventually constructed roads and infrastructure without county funds being released. Nicolla said Vista Development has invested $5.82 million at the site, along with roads and infrastructure costs totaling $6.75 million.
“There was no existing infrastructure,” Nicolla said in his letter. “It would be difficult to market the property unless potential occupants could actually drive around the facility to see a potential site, have available employee services nearby and picture their building in a certain location.”
The roads and infrastructure at Vista were paid for through a private investor, with the Bethlehem Industrial Development Agency used as a third-party so construction could move forward.
“We undertook construction because we felt it was the best way to get anything moving with Vista,” said Bethlehem IDA Chairman Frank Venezia.
The real property owners of each parcel of land within Vista are responsible to pay back the private investor, with some of the parcels held by limited liability companies of which Nicolla has principal ownership. The bond held by the investor is paid back come tax time, typically through a parcel’s Payment In Lieu of Taxes agreement.
To qualify for the $1 million, developers have to create one job per $2,000 of grant funding. Nicolla in his letter claimed the job-to-investment ratio has been satisfied.
Nicolla said 472 jobs have been created, which includes 76 jobs at the unconstructed Monolith Solar facility, and there was a peak of 200 construction jobs. Excluding Monolith and construction jobs, the total drops to 396. The largest employer is ShopRite supermarket at 300 jobs, according to Nicolla.
Commisso said county officials are researching the conditions of the grant funding and how many jobs have been created. The county does have money set aside for the grant.
“There is nothing so far that has been determined as far as giving the funds,” said Commisso. “There are still some questions as to the criteria being met.”
He said the county comptroller could have a “different opinion” on the job creation total and if benchmarks were met.
“It is just a matter of now vetting this thing in committee to make sure the 500 jobs are met. If not it remains the way it was and we continue on until they reach the 500 jobs,” said Commisso.
Monolith Solar announced in October it would be moving its headquarters from Rensselaer to Vista. The company will construct a 16,000-square-foot administration building, a 10,000-square-foot warehouse and manufacturing building, along with an additional solar farm to potentially provide energy to Vista’s other tenants.
Monolith’s nearly $5 million project is expected to retain 49 positions, with the potential to create 76 new jobs over five years.
The company is seeking $680,000 in tax exemptions from the Bethlehem Industrial Development Agency. Empire State Development will provide the company with a $400,000 grant and $400,000 in performance-based tax credits from Excelsior Jobs Program.
Breonics Inc., an Albany company specializing in organ regeneration research, was slated to be the first tech tenant in the campus. Breonics’ was looking to move after its lease at the state’s Harriman Research Center ended in August of 2013, but the company opted to not move to the campus.
Reporter Marcy Velte contributed to this story.
