The focus was on the Vista Technology Campus as the last of the Bethlehem Community Town Hall meetings came to a close in Slingerlands.
The final meeting of the community tour spearheaded by Supervisor John Clarkson took place on Monday, April 29, at Community United Methodist Church on New Scotland Road. About 20 residents attended the meeting, where town officials discussed the progress of Vista over the last year and also touched on the New Scotland Road Hamlet Master Plan.
The majority of the presentation was given by the town’s Economic Development and Planning Director Michael Morelli. He showed those in attendance a slideshow of aerial photographs taken throughout Vista’s development from May of 2012 to several months ago. He explained the tech park’s progression and described how 20 percent of the site was approved by the Town Board for secondary uses.
“We get questions all the time asking how people thought this was supposed to be a technology campus and what’s with all the retail. In fact, that was all part of the master plan,” he said.
Morelli said the idea was to allow service-based businesses in order to attract more offices and tech companies to the park. Sites that have what’s considered “one-stop-shopping” for employees are considered to be more attractive to employers.
Right now, secondary businesses consist of ShopRite, two banks and a medical office building. Another building that will house the Garden Bistro restaurant is under construction, while a doctor’s office is proposed along with a mixed retail building. Morelli said a Moe’s Southwest Grill is proposed for the mixed retail building, as well as a yogurt shop and a massage therapist office.
The first technology building has also been proposed at Vista. It is slated to be built on the site behind the ShopRite grocery store, with Breonics Inc., an Albany company specializing in organ regeneration research, to lease space inside.
Morelli said the project has been pulled from the agenda of the town’s Industrial Development Agency meetings twice because Joe Nicolla of Columbia Development is in negotiations with one, potentially two, tech companies to also lease space within the same building. Morelli said he believes Nicolla wants to have leases signed by all the businesses before going back to the IDA for approval.
Officials also discussed the New Scotland Road Hamlet Plan that originated in 2006. The town had previously held a gathering for those in Slingerlands to discuss what kind of feel they would like the hamlet to have. One resident volunteered to draw up the ideas, and they are now available on the town’s website.
The focus was on the section of New Scotland Road north of the roundabout. According to Morelli, those who participated said they wanted the area to have an upscale, downtown feel that was walkable. Many compared what they wanted to Broadway in Saratoga Springs.
“Obviously, this is still years off,” said Morelli, citing money issues and the need to get the state Department of Transportation on board.
However, the area has begun to be developed. Morelli said the location is attractive to developers because of its close proximity to Vista. An upscale apartment complex called The Hamlets is now being built and should be open by the summer.
The meeting finished with a long discussion about the highway referendum that took place on Tuesday, April 30.