Monolith Solar is seeking a tax break from the town as it aims to become the first tech tenant within the Vista Technology Campus.
The company went before the Bethlehem IDA on Monday, Dec. 1, where representatives sought nearly $700,000 in benefits.
“This is the wave of the future,” said Columbia Development President Joe Nicolla to the IDA about the solar market. “It took us a long time to get here.”
The applicant, SAE Sun and Earth Energy, asked for $320,400 in sales tax abatements, $48,715 in mortgage exemptions and $313,266 in real property tax exemptions. Although Monolith Solar will occupy the space, the other company owned by co-founder Mark Fobare and Steven Erby will technically own the property.
It was announced at a media event in October that Monolith Solar would be moving its headquarters from Rensselaer to Vista. The project includes a 16,000-square-foot administration building, a 10,000-square-foot building for warehouse and manufacturing, and an additional solar farm to potentially provide energy to Vista’s other tenants.
Solar panel production will take place at Monolith’s new headquarters, but the company has its eye on opening additional satellite locations as it expands throughout the state and country. There is also the possibility to expand at Vista.
Erby told the IDA about 2,400 homes could be energized by the solar farm. The panels however will be able to be purchased by companies or homeowners in order to provide energy outside of the general area.
Bethlehem IDA Executive Director Tom Connolly asked why the solar farm is an IDA project since no tax abatements are being sought for that property. Columbia Development representatives said it was included because the purchase price of the properties will be included in one mortgage and the applicants will be seeking a mortgage tax exemption. This is just for the land, not the solar farm equipment.
The town Planning Department is still determining if the properties will need to be separated from a planning and zoning standpoint, since they are different uses, according to Director Rob Leslie. The developers said they would like to keep the two properties as one contiguous parcel, while the Planning Department is leaning toward separating them.
Along with any tax breaks sought by Monolith Solar and Columbia Development, Empire State Development is providing the company with a $400,000 grant and $400,000 in performance-based tax credits from Excelsior Jobs Program. These incentives are tied directly to job creation and investment commitments. The company turned down significant tax breaks from Missouri to instead relocate its headquarters to Kansas City, where it already had a small set of employees.
The new building and expansion will be known as 85 Columbia. The $4.9 million project is expected to retain 49 jobs, with the possibility of creating 76 additional jobs within the next five years.
Financial records weren’t included in the application, and some board members asked why they weren’t. Nicolla said those could be provided, but only if confidentiality assurances could be made, and if the information was somehow released, the ramifications would be on the IDA.
The project is already behind schedule, since Erby previously said the hope was to break ground by the end of this month.
“We’re trying to get in the ground,” said Nicolla. “I know the drum’s been beat and Tom (Connolly) calls me once or twice a week asking ‘Where’s the technology?’ The supervisor calls me. Joe (Richardson, vice chairman of the IDA), every time he sees me, he beats me over the head, ‘Where’s the technology company?’ Well, here’s the technology company, how do we get going?”
The next IDA meeting is on the morning of Dec. 18. The board asked for all of the additional information needed so the application is complete, with the potential to set the public hearing at that meeting.
