By JIMMY LAWTON

OGDENSBURG -- Ogdensburg and St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency are hoping their combined efforts, and some help from the state, can breathe new life into the defunct Newell Building.

The 63,000-square-foot building once provided more than 100 jobs to the city and has caught the eye of many developers in recent years. But contamination at the site, unfortunate timing and degradation of utilities has made it tough for the city to close a deal.

Valuable partnership

But an opportunity presented by New York State Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s Restore New York program is bringing new hope to the city officials.

"I encourage local governments to apply for funding, as it supports the demolition and rehabilitation of blighted properties to improve our neighborhoods, entice new investment, and support a stronger, more prosperous New York for all,” Cuomo said in his announcement of the funding.

Both the IDA and city officials have there eyes are fixed on that grant which could provide up to $1 million for the rehabilitation of the building.

Planning Director Andrea Smith says Ogdensburg is not flush with resources at the moment, which has limited its ability to close a deal on the property, despite significant interest.

That’s just one of the many reasons the city is partnering with the IDA, according to Smith.

The city has a small tax base, poor credit and is undertaking a massive capital project to improve its wastewater treatment plant. Rising healthcare and retirement costs and years of low sales tax collections in the wake of reduced fuel prices and dated computer software has all hit the city in the wallet. But despite those challenges the city has made a solid effort to rehabilitate, demolish or sell properties it has acquired through delinquent taxes.

The city has been very active in selling small lots over the past year and has used previous, smaller Restore grants to demolish blighted properties.

Smith says the lack of easily accessible resources has not stopped the city’s development efforts, but projects as big as the Newell property have been a bit out of reach, until now.

“We are just not in a position to market this property to the same degree that the IDA can,” she said.

Smith says the partnership with the IDA means the city already has a developer and that’s an important aspect of obtaining the grant. She said the IDA has a proven track record of restoring similar buildings throughout the county and has access to the funding and resources and partners to fill a building or find a buyer once it has been rehabilitated.

A New Hope

SLC IDA Executive Director Patrick Kelly said the Restore round 5 grant “changes everything” for the project. He said the IDA sees the former manufacturing plant as valuable asset that can be marketed well once some work has been completed.

Located near the city’s port, rail hub and a main street, Kelly says the property has a lot to offer even without the building. Kelly says the building itself also has a lot going for it, mainly space. During a walking tour at the facility he pointed out the areas that need to be addressed, but said with funding from Restore 5, he believes it could be brought up to snuff.

Kelly pointed to the success of IDA developments.

He said that the IDA has invested over $8 million to construct 10 buildings and facilities in St. Lawrence County since 1982. Kelly says those buildings represent a total of 167,500 square feet of industrial and light industrial and warehousing space.

Working with other economic development partners like the St. Lawrence River Valley Redevelopment Agency, the agency has also acquired additional buildings in the Massena Industrial Park totaling another 60,000 square feet of space.

Current owners of buildings built by the IDA include Curran Renewable Energy, Marimac, RE Michel, New York Power Tools and Kinney Drugs, according to Kelly.

“So we have done a lot of this type of work, but we haven’t done it in Ogdensburg. I think the Newell building and this Restore New York grant will allow us to take advantage of what the city has to offer. I see a lot of potential here.”

While the grant would provide $1 million for the project, it also requires a 30 percent match from the city. Smith says the city is confident it can leverage additional money from a $300,000 National Grid grant to make ends meet.

Kelly says that if the grant is received and the IDA takes ownership of the property the primary goal will be to find occupants. Kelly says this could range from a business purchasing or leasing the properties or even renting partial space. He said the details for development will be kept loose in order to provide flexibility to potential job creators.

Smith who has been successful in obtaining Restore grants in the past says she thinks the city has a real shot at securing the funding.

“I think this project has a lot going for but I think the strongest point is the partnership with IDA,” she said.