City of Syracuse Industrial Development Agency 201 East Washington St, 7 th Floor Syracuse, NY Tel (315)

Transcription

1 City of Syracuse Industrial Development Agency 201 East Washington St, 7 th Floor Syracuse, NY Tel (315) Minutes Board of Directors Meeting Tuesday September 19, 2017 Board Members Present: William Ryan, M. Catherine Richardson, Esq., Stephen Thompson, Kenneth Kinsey, Board Members Excused: Donald Schoenwald, Esq. Staff Present: Honora Spillane, Susan Katzoff, Esq., Judith DeLaney, Debra Ramsey-Burns, John Vavonese, Meghan Ryan Others Present: Lauryn LaBourde, Aggie Lane, Barry Lentz, William Marquardt, Sarah Stephens, William Maxim, Fred Swayze, Richard DeVito, Robert Doucette, Merike Treir, Robb Bidwell. Media: Rick Moriarty I. Call Meeting to Order Mr. Ryan called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. II. Roll Call Mr. Ryan noted all Board members were present with the exception of Mr. Schoenwald who was excused. III. Proof of Notice Mr. Ryan noted notice of the meeting had been timely and properly provided. Minutes Mr. Ryan asked for a motion to approve the minutes from the August 15, 2017 Board of Directors meeting. Ms. Richardson made a motion. Mr. Thompson seconded the motion. ALL BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT UNANIMOUSLY MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM THE AUGUST 15, 2017 BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING. IV. New Business 415 So. Clinton LLC Ms. Spillane advised the Board the Agency had received an application for financial assistance from the owners of the Company who propose the gut renovation of 21,000 sq. ft. building located at 415 S.

2 Clinton St in the Armory Square neighborhood. The owners intend to convert the long vacant and deteriorating structure into a mixed use with first floor commercial component and twelve residential units on the upper floors. She said the cost of the Project is estimated to be $2,591,657 and the owners are requesting benefits from the Agency including a mortgage tax exemption ($19,125.00) and a sales tax exemption ($50,000.00).Noting the application was included in the Board s Agenda packet, she requested the Board authorize a Public Hearing on the Project The Board being in agreement, Mr. Ryan asked for a motion to approve the resolution. Ms. Richardson made the motion. Mr. Thompson seconded the motion. ALL BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED A RESOLUTION DETERMINING THAT THE ACQUISITION, RECONSTRUCTION, RENOVATION, EQUIPPING AND COMPLETION OF A MIXED-USE COMMERCIAL FACILITY AT THE REQUEST OF THE COMPANY CONSTITUTES A PROJECT; DESCRIBING THE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE IN CONNECTION THEREWITH; AND AUTHORIZING A PUBLIC HEARING. Deys Plaza LLC Ms. Spillane advised the Board the Agency has received an application from the Company requesting financial assistance for an additional buildout of the Deys building and that she was requesting the members approve a resolution authorizing a Public hearing on the Project. She reviewed the Project for the members noting that currently the building has 61 fully rented residential units and an estimated sq. ft. of commercial space. She said due to the loss of a major commercial tenant 70,000 sq. ft. of additional commercial space is now vacant and the owners have decided to convert a portion of that space into 23 residential units and upgrade an additional 28,000 sq. ft. of office space in preparation for a potential commercial tenant. She noted the cost of the Project is estimated to be $4,341,641 and that the owners are requesting benefits form the Agency in the form of mortgage tax exemption valued at an estimated $89,000 and sales tax exemption valued at $240, She advised the mortgage tax exemption amount was higher due to the Company s intention to refinance an existing mortgage along with a new money mortgage to total $11,900, Ms. Richardson asked about the 100 full time jobs listed in the application. Richard Devito who was present said the number represented the employees of the commercial tenants currently leasing space in the building. Ms. Katzoff asked about a Project completion date. Mr. Devito responded they hoped to complete the Project in Mr. Thompson asked about the occupancy of the existing residential units. Robert Doucette also an owner of the Project responded other than the normal turnovers of apartments from one tenant to the next the residential space was fully occupied. Ms. Richardson asked about parking. Mr. DeVito noting the building had a parking garage said there was more than ample parking available.

3 There being no further discussion Mr. Ryan asked for a motion to approve the resolution. Mr. Thompson made the motion. Ms. Richardson seconded the motion. ALL BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED RESOLUTION DETERMINING THAT THE ACQUISITION, RECONSTRUCTION, RENOVATION, EQUIPPING AND COMPLETION OF A COMMERCIAL FACILITY AT THE REQUEST OF THE COMPANY CONSTITUTES A PROJECT; DESCRIBING THE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE IN CONNECTION THEREWITH; AND AUTHORIZING A PUBLIC HEARING. Downtown Committee of Syracuse Ms. Spillane advised the Board that the Downtown Committee of Syracuse (DCS) was requesting a modification of some of the terms of the agreement approved by the Board at its June meeting. She reminded the Board that they had approved an agreement to provide funding in an amount not to exceed $212,000 annually for two years to assist with security and maintenance needs for the downtown neighborhood. She then asked Merike Treier, the Executive Director of DCS to address the Board regarding the requested changes. Ms. Treier advised the DCS would like to modify the hours of service of the security patrol to be paid for by the agreement to provide greater staffing flexibility. She said there would be no additional expense because of the change in hours. Additionally she said there was an increase in the cost of the security cameras by an additional $6, annually to account for the maintenance of the cameras. As the Board members were in agreement to amend the agreement as discussed, Mr. Ryan asked for a motion to approve the resolution. Ms. Richardson made the motion. Mr. Thompson seconded the motion. ALL BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED A RESOLUTION AMENDING PRIOR AUTHORIZATION OF THE AGENCY TO NEGOTIATE, EXECUTE AND DELIVER A CONTRACT WITH THE DOWNTOWN COMMITTEE OF SYRACUSE TO ACQUIRE CERTAIN SERVICES AND EQUIPMENT WITH RESPECT TO IMPROVEMENTS TO THE DOWNTOWN AREA OF THE CITY OF SYRACUSE. Steri Pharma LLC Ms. Katzoff advised the Company was requesting a temporary sales tax appointment for the Project thru February 28, 2018 and an infrastructure agreement dedicating the Agency s fee to emergency repairs required on Company property and a public Right of Way adjacent to it. She noted the Board of Directors approved assistance to the Company in May for the expansion of its West Street Pharmaceutical facility. She said while the Company was not fully prepared to close a segment of the Project to repair and stabilize a failing retaining wall on parcels adjacent to Onondaga Creek, a public Right of Way, was now critical under an emergency order from the City of Syracuse and needed to commence as soon as possible. She said the dedication of the fees to the infrastructure repair was an allowable use under the statute as it would be of benefit to the City s citizens.

4 Ms. Richardson questioned what would happen if the Project did not go through. Ms. Katzoff responded this would be contingent on a transactional closing, and an obligation to repay the fee if the Project was not completed could be built into the agreement. She said additionally the Company would be obligated to pay any sales tax exempted under a recapture agreement. Ms. Spillane added the Company would be paying the fee upfront and would only be reimbursed for work completed. Mr. Ryan then suggested that if the Board was in agreement on approving the resolutions they should leave it to Ms. Katzoff s discretion to amend the agreement to protect the Agency s interest. As the members were in agreement, Mr. Ryan then asked for a motion to authorize the temporary sales tax appointment. Ms. Richardson made the motion. Mr. Kinsey seconded the motion. ALL BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE ISSUANCE OF A TEMPORARY SALES TAX APPOINTMENT LETTER AND THE EXECUTION AND DELIVERY OF CERTAIN DOCUMENTS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH. Mr. Ryan then asked for a motion to approve the resolution relative to the proposed infrastructure agreement. Ms. Richardson made the motion. Mr. Thompson seconded the motion. ALL BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED A RESOLUTION APPROVING AN INFRASTRUCTURE AGREEMENT WITH STERI-PHARMA, LLC AND THE DEDICATION OF THE AGENCY S ADMINISTRATIVE FEES IN CONJUNCTION THEREWITH. Herald Commons LLC As an update to the Board members on the Company Ms. Katzoff advised the Agency had requested an affidavit from the Company verifying it had not exceeded the sales tax exemption benefit authorized by the Board of Directors. She said the issue came up initially because a review of the Company s ST-340 filing for 2016 indicated it had exceeded the exemption by a little over $12, dollars. Upon being advised of the overage, the Company responded that it was an error and refiled a corrected version of the St-340 to the State of New York. Upon Counsel s advice the Agency then requested the Company sign an affidavit attesting to the error. Ms. Katzoff said the Company so far had not submitted the affidavit as requested. Ms. DeLaney said that in her conversations with the owner he indicated he wanted to wait until he had a full reconciliation of expenses from his contractor. He also indicated he would likely need both an extension and an increase in the amount of the sales tax exemption and she advised the Board members would likely not consider approval until the affidavit was received. After a brief discussion Mr. Ryan noting they had filed a correct ST-340 with the State suggested giving them another month to return the affidavit and asked that staff should reach out to them again regarding their intent. VII. Adjournment

5 There being no further items to discuss Mr. Ryan asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Thompson made the motion. Mr. Kinsey seconded the motion. ALL BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT APPROVED A MOTION TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 8:56 A.M.