CITY OF LOCKPORT: Property tax break sought for Harrison Place

By Joyce Miles<br><a href="mailto:joyce.miles@lockportjournal.com">E-mail Joyce</a>

Greater Lockport Development Corp. is seeking property tax relief for Harrison Place.

The payment-in-lieu-of-taxes plan application of 210 Walnut Street LLC, the holding company for Harrison Place, was introduced to the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency board of directors Wednesday.

It seeks exemption from sales tax on improvement materials and 15 years of exemption from county, school and city property taxes.

The logic of tax relief, according to Lockport Mayor/GLDC President Michael Tucker: Any money made by the complex is better reinvested in it than paid to tax collectors. GLDC’s aim is to repair and reoccupy its four buildings in stages, as a business incubator, and ultimately be rid of it.

Three-and-a-half years after GLDC took possession, because the former owner defaulted on its nearly $1 million loan, Tucker said a lot of work has been done to make it more appealing to tenants — but more remains.

“Taking back (the property) was the right thing to do, but it’s bleeding GLDC,” he said. “We need to stabilize it, make it energy-efficient, improve it enough to make it ready for sale. We certainly don’t want to own it forever.”

Tucker, who also is an NCIDA board member, did not represent GLDC as its tax-break application was introduced, GLDC special counsel Thomas J. Caserta of Niagara Falls did. Tucker is abstaining from all IDA voting on the request, he said. So is IDA board member Deanna Alterio Brennan, who also is a GLDC board member.

The PILOT application projects 45 new jobs can be created through new business tenancies within three years. Currently 44 people work in 22 small, workshop-type enterprises in parts of the complex. Seven other tenants indicate that no employees are renting storage space. About 13 percent of the complex — 63,000 square feet — is occupied; according to the application, already that bests the former owner’s top occupancy rate of 5.7 percent.

Harrison Place isn’t suited for occupation by one manufacturer because it’s “disjointed and does not offer physical or functional attributes that would facilitate production flows of most manufacturing processes,” the application said.

GLDC has invested about $1.6 million in roof, elevator and utility repairs, through a reimbursement grant from New York state, but more roof work needs to be done, Tucker said. According to the application, maintenance issues that affect its ability to draw new tenants include the need for masonry ceiling, HVAC and elevator repairs and window replacement buildout.

Since 2006, GLDC has floated four loans to the 210 Walnut holding company, amounting to $275,000, to get it current on old and new bills.

The complex has an assessed value of $450,000, which conveys an annual tax load of $21,000, according to the application.

NCIDA will host a public hearing on the Harrison Place tax-break request at 4:30 p.m. April 13 at Lockport City Hall.

In other IDA business:

In Pendleton, Dimax LLC, the holding company for Mac’s Antique Auto Parts, is requesting a 15-year PILOT on a planned $2 million expansion.

Mac’s, 6150 Donner Road, is poised to add 28,000 square feet to its existing 38,000-square-foot facility, to accommodate planned acquisitions, according to owner Rick McIntosh.

Mac’s is one of the world’s largest suppliers of replacement parts for Ford and Mercury cars and trucks, circa 1909 to 1970s. NCIDA granted it a PILOT in 2005, when McIntosh moved the business out of the City of Lockport to expand in Pendleton.

In four years, McIntosh said, he increased full-time employment to 87 from 55. With a second expansion, he projects adding eight more full-time jobs, in warehousing/order filling, within three years.

“We have what I refer to as a good problem,” McIntosh said. “Growth exceeded our expectations.”

Mac’s second PILOT request is for mortgage, sales and town, Lockport School District and Niagara County property tax exemptions on the addition. The value of exemptions over 15 years is estimated to be $544,000.

NCIDA will host a public hearing on the Dimax tax-break request at 3:30 p.m. April 13 at Pendleton Town Hall.

Contact reporter Joyce Miles at 439-9222, ext. 6245.

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