Another part of the Vista Technology Park project got the stamp of approval tonight from the Bethlehem Planning Board, and for the first time a tentative date was floated for a groundbreaking on the long-awaited and massive project: Thursday, Sept. 29.
That’s if everything goes according to plan and bonds arranged through the Bethlehem Industrial Development Agency come through and are issued at a meeting the day before. Then builder BBL Construction could get started on the 3/4-mile road into the tech park.
The Planning Board unanimously gave conditional approval to the first big phase of buildings at Vista this evening, signing off on four buildings with definite tenants and conditionally approving three others. The developer will have to return to the board with final exterior plans for those last three once tenants are cemented.
Columbia Development’s Joe Nicolla wouldn’t name any of those tenants, but two banks, a supermarket and an office building were given the okay.
`I think that it would be appropriate for the tenants to be the ones to make the announcements of who they are,` Nicolla said.
The supermarket tenant is very likely a Shoprite, however–developers all but confirmed it during a summer of financing discussions and the chain is about to open a store in Niskayuna.
Architects explained they went with `residential` looks for the initial Vista buildings, selecting earth tones in stone and rock and eschewing glass and steel. There was a lot of discussion on the Planning Board about how pedestrians will be able to get around the retail portion of the park, though.
Developers said it’s going to be tough to point people to sidewalks that would safely take them to other pads of businesses. Planning Board member Nicholas Behuniak said encouraging walking is a necessity.
`I do think that people use [sidewalks] and I think they have great value,` he said.
A pedestrian circulation plan will have to be brought back to the board before building permits for the buildings are issued.
This new round of approval consists of 98,000 square feet of `primary use` space (offices and non-retail businesses) and 90,500 square feet of `secondary use` (retail and commercial space). Another office building was approved along with Vista Boulevard.
If built all the way out Vista would consist of 1.4 million square feet of space, 80 percent of which must be primary use. Most of the retail component is being built first because, according to the developer, it’s closer to Route 85 and will also attract other tenants.
