The City of Batavia and the Village of Perry are among the beneficiaries of the latest round of Restore New York Communities Initiative money designed to reinvigorate downtowns and generate economic opportunity in communities throughout the state.
According to a press release issued by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office, funds in the amount of $500,000 each have been allocated to Batavia for demolition, remediation and rehabilitation of the former Ellicott Station to create a mixed-use facility, and to Perry for the Restore Downtown Perry Project.
City Manager Jason Molino said the award reinforces the strides Batavia has made in the area of redevelopment in recent months.
“This affirms the state’s commitment to the City of Batavia and belief in what we’re trying to do here,” Molino said. “This makes a total of $2.4 million that the state has invested into the city.”
In December, the state awarded a $1.9 million Consolidated Funding Application grant by the Finger Lakes Regional Development Council for the Ellicott Station project -- a $17 million renovation and redevelopment of the former Santy’s Tire Shop and Soccio & Della Penna Construction site on Ellicott Street into a retail/commercial/residential complex.
Molino said that remediation work is “already in motion” between the Batavia Development Corp. and Buffalo developer Samuel Savarino, and he expects construction to begin this year.
As far as the Restore New York Communities Initiative is concerned, nearly $40 million was awarded to 75 municipalities through Round 4 of the program, which was enacted in the 2016 fiscal year budget and designated to Empire State Development for implementation.
For Round 4, cities, towns and villages were all eligible to apply for support for projects that include demolition, deconstruction, rehabilitation or reconstruction of vacant, abandoned, condemned and surplus properties.
For a full list of projects, go to <https://www.governor.ny.gov/sites/governor.ny.gov/files/atoms/files/RestoreNYFundingList.pdf>.
