Work to transform vacant Pfizer property into industrial park continues
Feb. 27—ROUSES POINT — The real estate group working to resurrect acres of deserted Pfizer property here is gaining ground.
ERS-Rouses Point LLC, a subset of NYC-based ERS Investors, acquired 80 acres from the pharmaceutical giant in 2018 and its efforts to construct the Northern Gateway Industrial Park there have received support from the Village of Rouses Point, the North Country Chamber of Commerce and, most recently, the County of Clinton Industrial Development Agency (CCIDA) by way of an approved tax abatement agreement.
"When we bought the property, every structure was slated to be torn down," ERS-RP Partner David Kreutz said, noting that Pfizer later allowed a few structures to remain standing, before adding, "but the interior of all three had been pretty torn up during the remediation process.
"Everything needs to be put back together internally to attract first-class tenants to the village."
INTERIOR PROGRESS
Kreutz spoke before the CCIDA at the board's February meeting, saying remediation and demolition work there had finished and has since said interior improvements were in progress.
That included ceiling, floor, wall and bathroom work, as well as upgrades to lighting and electrical systems.
As previously reported by the Press-Republican, the three remaining buildings had nearly 234,000 square feet of accumulative space.
Kruetz said the ongoing enhancements were hoped to make the square footage enticing to tenants in the medical manufacturing, computer manufacturing, industrial warehousing, solar manufacturing, robotics and refrigerated storage sectors, as well as other "cutting edge" firms.
TAX AGREEMENT
The 15-year tax agreement approved by the CCIDA granted ERS 100 percent real property tax abatement on years one through five. In the sixth year, it would chip in 50 percent of those taxes and that percentage would increase by 5 percent annually.
By the 16th year, the developer would pay 100 percent of its taxes.
The tax break was to support the firm's aforementioned renovations and reconstruction.
'TAKES A VILLAGE'
Though the facility is still prepping for its first clients, ERS says it is "in talks every day" with possible tenants and says 2021 could "see some real progress."
"This is a community effort," ERS President Chris Wilson says in a recent release. "As things progress, we will work closely with the village to attract the type of business and high quality, good paying jobs that will make a positive impact on the community."
Kruetz thought efforts to transform the Pfizer property into a premiere industrial park proved the old adage, "It takes a village."
"Let's not forget," he added, "we have the full support of (North Country Chamber of Commerce President) Garry Douglas and (Vice President of Economic Development) Sue Matton and the rest of the great people at the chamber and those are resources that are literally a game changer when you need to get yourself noticed in a crowded room.
"What we're trying to do in Rouses Point can't be done without the commitment and effort of the entire community."
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Twitter: @McKenzieDelisle
