Developer wants to bring amphitheatre to city’s waterfront, but missed RFP deadline

BY JIMMY LAWTONNorth Country This Week

OGDENSBURG — A developer wants to reinvent Ogdensburg’s waterfront with an outdoor amphitheater, marina, restaurants, retail space and a hotel.

John Ciccotti, an employee of JGK Associates, who spoke on behalf of project principal Jeffrey Cohen,  presented the proposal to the Ogdensburg City Council July 27. 

“We’re trying to build an amphitheater here,” he told council Monday during the public comment period of the regular meeting.

Ciccotti said financing for the proposal is in place, but acknowledged they missed the deadline when the city issued requests for proposals on the Diamond National site earlier this year.

He was accompanied by Shannon Furgison-Thornhill, who expressed interest in filling a vacancy on city council recently. She urged the city to work to work on getting the city’s waterfront properties ready for development, particularly the Shade Roller Site.

She noted that “investors don’t fall from the sky.”

The proposal calls for an amphitheater overlooking the St. Lawrence River with a covered seating area, lawn space and facilities for concerts, festivals, weddings and other events.

The plan includes a public promenade along the waterfront, market kiosks, dining areas, green space and improvements to the marina. The proposal includes later phases that could add a hotel, restaurants and retail businesses as well as residential developments.

The proposal comes as Ogdensburg prepares to put its $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative award to work.

JGK would like to leverage $3.25 million of the DRI funding toward the amphitheater. The proposal estimates the venue itself would cost about $4.5 million, with the remaining $1.25 million coming through private financing.

The developer says the public investment would help attract additional private investment to the waterfront.

 The principal behind the proposal also spoke to the council about the plan.

“Where do you come across such a beautiful piece of property? It’s an untapped resource that we could make happen,” Cohen said.

Cohen said he’s confident that the project would be a success.

“No B.S. We could make it happen. I wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t waste my time. Time is all I have right now, and I’ve got to make it valuable for me,” he said. “And I believe in this city, and I believe we could make good things come out of it. I don’t do it out of money. I do it because I believe in it.”

The council took no action Monday night.

The proposal comes as Ogdensburg works through the process of determining how its $10 million state revitalization award will be spent.

The developer's pitch is for the waterfront project to become one of the major anchors of that investment.

While the project is ambitious, City Manager Fonda Chronis cautioned that the proposal and its claims have not been evaluated or vetted by city staff for accuracy.  

He said any claims made within it, especially on the financial benefits to the city, should not be assumed accurate until that happens.  

“That does not mean they are inaccurate, simply; the city has not performed due diligence on documents it received Monday evening,” he wrote in an emailed response to North Country This Week.

He said the city received five proposals through the RFP process earlier this year.

“This proposal did not go through that process, and a version of this proposal was submitted to me four  months after the RFP's due date.  That makes it ineligible for consideration at this time,” he said.

Chronis said at this time the city continues to move forward with its process to determine a preferred developer for the Diamond site.  

“That does not preclude this or other proposals from being able to apply in the future should the city offer another opportunity.”

The Diamond National site isn’t the city’s only available waterfront space. The former Shade Roller site also lacks a developer at this time.