A Rockland County company with a Badass name was among the region”™s million-dollar award winners in the state”™s fourth round of regional economic development funding recently announced in Albany.
The city of Yonkers and one of the city”™s private downtown developers were among the winners of state grants of $1 million or more.
The seven-county mid-Hudson Valley region, which stretches from suburban Westchester to rural Ulster and Sullivan counties, received the largest share, $82.8 million, of the state”™s $709.2 million in grants and tax credits awarded for private and municipal projects through Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo”™s Regional Economic Development Council initiative to create jobs and new and expanded businesses.
Ten councils across the state each year identify priority projects and shepherd applications for state aid from businesses and municipalities under the direction of the Empire State Development agency”™s regional offices.
The grants and income tax credits through the state”™s Excelsior Jobs Program will benefit 118 projects in the region, state officials said.
Of the total award for this region, $35 million, or 42 percent, will come as tax-free federal industrial development bonds allocated to state and local bond-issuing authorities. An additional $3.05 million will be reserved as state income tax credits through the state”™s Excelsior Jobs Program for future projects by businesses that invest in industries strategically targeted for growth by the Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council.
The mid-Hudson council received the largest regional share as one of the state”™s five “top performers” in 2014. Long Island, another top performer, was awarded the next largest share, $81.9 million, for 97 projects. A total of 852 projects were awarded funding statewide.
Headquartered in Blauvelt, Badass Cider Co. LLC, the maker of Badass Hard Cider, will receive a $500,000 grant to develop a brewing and distilling operation for craft beer, cider and spirits. The company, which produces its apple and pear hard ciders at the Brotherhood Winery in Washingtonville, also was awarded $1 million in Excelsior Jobs Program tax credits for its manufacturing expansion project.
The city of Yonkers was awarded $4.63 million for three projects, including $2.5 million for the third phase of its Saw Mill River daylighting project along New Main Street between Nepperhan Avenue and Getty Square. The city”™s long-term project with private residential developers to revitalize the Ashburton Avenue neighborhood and traffic corridor was awarded a $1.5 million grant for road, bridge and sidewalk improvements.
The city also stands to receive $630,000 in grants for an expansion of exhibition space at the Hudson River Museum.
SoYo Exalta LLC, a company formed in June by downtown Yonkers landlord and developer Nick Sprayregen, was awarded a $1 million grant for its proposed mixed-use development on Larkin Plaza that would include 400 luxury rental units in a 550,000-square-foot tower. The estimated $168 million project would include nearly 110,000 square feet of parking and 34,000 square feet of ground floor retail and restaurant space along a commercial block that fronts the city”™s 2-year-old Van der Donck Park on the Saw Mill River.
Community Capital New York Inc., a nonprofit alternative lender to the region”™s small businesses with headquarters in Hawthorne, was awarded a $1 million grant to create the Hudson Valley Opportunity Loan Fund, a revolving loan fund targeted towards small businesses and social enterprises owned by minorities, women and veterans.
In Ulster County, The Solar Energy Consortium was awarded a $1 million grant for equipment purchases by the consortium”™s sister organization in Kingston, the Center for Global Advanced Manufacturing. The equipment will be used in SUNY Manufacturing Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) labs that train students for specialty manufacturing on state college campuses in the mid-Hudson Valley.
In Orange County, Middletown Community Health Center Inc. was awarded a $1.65 million grant for its project to convert the former Ontario & Western Railway Station in Middletown into a community health center.
In Dutchess County, Mensch Grasmere LLC was awarded $1 million for its Grasmere Farm Hotel project, a proposal to adaptively reuse stone barns, a manor house and other buildings on the historic Grasmere Estate as hotel and events space. The redevelopment of the 450-acre property in Rhinebeck would include a working farm and farm market, a spa and a restaurant.
State officials in their awards announcement highlighted three private-sector projects in this region.
Merlin Entertainments Group US Holdings Inc., the U.S. division of a United Kingdom company that operates theme parks and resorts on three continents, was awarded $3.1 million toward site development for its planned Legoland theme park resort in Haverstraw.
Also in Rockland County, Jawonio Inc., a services provider for people with developmental disabilities and special needs, was awarded $2.5 million for its four-year, $24 million expansion and consolidation project on its nearly 17-acre main campus in New City. State officials said the project includes construction of 97,000 square feet of state-of-the-art space and an investment in IT infrastructure “that will better position Jawonio for the planned expansion of its employment services division.”
In Orange County, USAI Lighting, a manufacturer of LED fixtures, was awarded $1.25 million to expand and modernize its New Windsor facility. The project will enable the return to New Windsor of several company product lines being manufactured in China, according to Empire State Development officials. The company has grown from $5.9 million in revenue to $35.6 million in seven years, they said.
In Westchester, Historic Hudson River Towns, a nonprofit intermunicipal organization, was awarded a $250,000 grant to conduct a feasibility study of the proposed development of a museum in the former powerhouse at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining.
