Well, at least it will bring this subject to light again. Isn't it just a shame...things just never go smoothly in Rotterdam.

http://www.dailygazette.com

Quoted Text

Plan to redevelop Curry Road plaza moving slowly
Friday, June 6, 2008
By Justin Mason (Contact)
Gazette Reporter

ROTTERDAM — Plans to redevelop the dilapidated Curry Road Shopping Center may be moving ahead slowly, but they're still progressing, according to a builder involved in the deal.

Dan Polito, a principal in Polito-Columbia Properties LLC., said a deal is in the works with the town, the Golub Corp. and Trustco Bank that should soon allow his company to move forward with plans to build 94 two-bedroom condominiums on the property. He said a draft of the purchase contract was sent to Golub for review last week and is now being reviewed.

"It is progressing slowly, but it is progressing," he said.

Part of the delay lies in the complexity of a deal involving three businesses and the town, which technically owns the property. All but an acre of the original 12-acre parcel was originally donated to the town by Golub after the company was unsuccessful in securing tenants for the site.

Polito-Columbia is now negotiating for the final slice of land, while also seeking to relocate Golub's print shop, the only tenant remaining in the largest building on the property. Simultaneously, Polito said his company is negotiating a deal to move the Trustco branch, which has a lease for space in the plaza's smaller building until 2011.

The project includes a plan to move the bank branch into a new retail building that would be built facing Curry Road. Polito said the bank has been receptive to the proposed relocation.

"They're very interested in moving to the front of this parcel," he said.

http://www.dailygazette.com

Quoted Text

ROTTERDAM
Developer: Deal in works on condominium project
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter Justin Mason at 395-3113 or jmason@dailygazette.net

    Plans to redevelop the dilapidated Curry Road Shopping Center may be slow, but they are progressing, a builder involved in the deal said.
    Dan Polito, of Polito-Columbia Properties LLC., said a deal is in the works with the Golub Corp., the town and Trustco Bank, which should soon allow the his company to move forward on plans to build 94 two-bedroom condominiums on the property. He said a draft of the purchase contract was sent to Golub for review recently.
    “It is progressing slowly, but it is progressing,” he said last week. Part of the delay lies in a the complexity of a deal involving three businesses and the town, which technically owns the property. All but an acre of the original 12-acre parcel was originally donated to the town by Golub, after the company was unsuccessful in securing tenants for the site.
    Polito-Columbia is now negotiating for the fi nal slice of land, while also seeking to relocate Golub’s print shop, the only tenant remaining in the largest building on the property. Simultaneously, Polito said his company is negotiating a deal to move the Trustco branch, which has a leased a space in the plaza’s smaller building until 2011.
    The redevelopment project proposes to move the bank into a new retail building that would be built facing Curry Road. Polito said the bank has been very receptive to the proposed relocation.
    “They’re very interested in moving to the front of this parcel,” he said.
    Town officials had sought grant funding for the project through the Restore NY Communities Initiative, a state program designed to aid municipalities in rehabilitating or removing obsolete or rundown commercial and residential properties. But Rotterdam was not among the communities awarded funds during a second round of grants issued in January.
    Supervisor Steve Tommasone said the lack of grant funding hadn’t affected the progress of the deal. Though he admitted the project was taking a bit longer than originally anticipated, he expressed optimism an agreement could soon be reached between all the parties involved.
    “They are very close to an agreement,” he said.
    When contacted about the deal, a Price Chopper spokeswoman reiterated that Price Chopper would encourage “the development and practical use of that property.”

Hate to bring up an old thread/topic - just found some data and thought I'd share:

Two tornados have struck Schenectady County since 1/1/1950 (Through 1995)
http://www.tornadoproject.com/alltorns/nytorn.htm

Schenectady County Tornadoes

   date        event  hour   dead   inj.   F    County
                 #                        scale    #

JUN 24, 1960    002   1730     0      9    F3    093    (max. wind speeds 158-206 mph)
AUG 21, 1971    004   1250     0      0    F0    093  

The 1960 one was an F3! That's huge! (injured 9 people) - no deaths thankfully.


Saratoga County has had quite a few:
JUN 16, 1974    002   1225     0      0    F2    091  
JLY 29, 1974    004   1730     0      0    F1    091  
MAY 09, 1978    002   1700     0      0    F1    091  
NOV 16, 1989    013   1220     0      1    F1    091  
NOV 16, 1989    014   1250     0      0    F0    091  
JLY 05, 1992    009   1340     0      0    F0    091  
JLY 05, 1992    010   1412     0      0    F0    091

Albany's had it's share too:


JUN 30, 1973    001   1615     0      2    F1    001  
JUN 16, 1974    002   1215     0      0    F2    001  
JLY 11, 1980    003   1500     0      0    F0    001  
MAY 12, 1984    001   1325     0     13    F0    001  
JLY 10, 1989    003   1257     0      0    F3    001  
AUG 28, 1990    014   1930     0      0    F0    001  

http://www.dailygazette.com

Quoted Text

ROTTERDAM
Redevelopment projects plod on
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
  
    The longest and arguably most visible sign of a stalled commercial redevelopment effort lies about a half-mile from the vacant CVSowned property, at the former Curry Road Shopping Center. Efforts to redevelop the plaza have dragged along since August 2007, when town officials voted to sell the property to a private developer proposing to build 94 two-bedroom condominiums and a modest streetfront retail space.
    During the early 1980s, the 77,000-square-foot plaza supported a Kmart and several businesses. When Kmart vacated the anchor store in 1989, the company tried to sublet its space to Price Chopper, while the owners of the plaza attempted to lease the store to Hannaford Brothers. The companies engaged in legal sparing for more than five years until Price Chopper bought the property outright in 1996.
    The Golub Corp., Price Chopper’s parent company, initially discussed moving offices to the plaza but faced difficulties during the planning process because of the property’s location on Curry Road. Instead, the badly deteriorated plaza remained largely vacant for nearly a decade until 2003, when Golub donated it to the town to establish a new government center.
    After mulling uses for the property for several years, the town decided to offer it for private development. They eventually awarded the redevelopment project to Polito-Columbia Properties LLC, which has since been negotiating a deal to move Golub’s print shop and a Trustco Bank — the only tenants remaining within the sprawling plaza.
    Dan Polito, a principal with the development group, said the deal to redevelop the property is still chugging forward, only slowly. He said the deal is complicated because the tenants need to be relocated and due to lingering environmental issues.
    The state Department of Environmental Conservation required a cleanup at the property because a dry-cleaning business once located there caused ground contamination. State health officials indicated that they will continue to monitor air quality around the property until its buildings are destroyed.
    Polito was unsure when the deal would finally be completed. However, he said the project would eventually move forward.
    “It’s a pretty complicated deal,” said Polito. “We certainly want to move forward with the project and Golub certainly wants to move forward with the project, it’s just that we have some issues we need to get around.”

Ok, I have only one question.....Who presently owns the Curry Road Shopping plaza property? Did Polito-Columbia Properties LLC purchase it? Are they paying taxes on it? Or is this still in the 'proposal' phase?

I would hope that when the developer bought the property, he started paying taxes on it, but the fact that you are questioning that leads me to believe that he hasn't paid a dime in taxes.

Just looked at the town website under Town Services / Assessor's Office/ OARS and low and behold you are on to something Bumble.  The property is not even listed as existing as a parcel of land.  Imagine that, a
property worth 4 million dollars and who is paying taxes on it?    That has to be more than 100K a year in lost revenue.....  How does that developer just get the parcel to disappear on the tax map?

Thanks for checking. I didn't know if the gazette article was mis-leading or not. If it is off the tax rolls, than I guess that Rotterdam still owns it from when Golub gave it to them. Though it the parcel should still be on the tax roll. Soooo....I guess this Polito-Columbia Properties LLC is still only in the proposal phase.

I would have hoped that the town would have had a 'time frame' in place when the redevelopment project was awarded to  Polito.

I know this doesn't have to do with this land, but I can tell you at least that the former Grand Union over on Hamburg St. is on the tax rolls.  Did you know that the Rollarama is assessed higher than the Grand Union?  Grand Union is assessed at $450,000.  Rollarama...$1,060,000.

Good thing the eyesore's not bringing down the value of Rollarama, a fully functional business bringing tax revenue in to the county. (Rollarama's address is 2710 Hamburg, GU's is 2696 Hamburg)