PODS seeks tax relief for Marlborough move

PODS Enterprises LLC has asked the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency for more than $640,000 in tax breaks as the company prepares to relocate within the town of Marlborough.

The company, which rents our portable storage units, plans to move from 22 Riverview Drive to a 40,000-square-foot building it would construct at 1100 U.S. Route 9W, the site of a former garden center.

PODS rents out empty storage units that then are filled by homeowners or business and brought to a central site.

PODS Enterprises LLC owner Gary Krupnick told the Industrial Development Agency board at a recent meeting that the empty containers “will be stored outside out of sight behind the [new] building.”

Filled containers, as large as 8 feet tall and 16 feet long, would be stored inside the building, Krupnick said. He estimated there could be up to 700 containers, depending on the sizes.

“This facility will run 70 to 80 percent capacity pretty quick,” he said.

The financial relief being sought from the Industrial Development Agency includes a payment-inlieu-of-taxes agreement under which $447,444 in property taxes would be waived. The company also is seeking a $169,600 exemption from sales taxes and a $25,500 waiver from mortgage recording taxes.

PODS reports having seven full-time employees at its current operation and Marlborough and says it would employ eight people in the first year at the new location, 10 people in the second year and 12 in the third year.

The application for tax relief says the relocation project would cost the company about $6 million and create 52 construction jobs .

“Applicant is under contract to acquire the property,” the application states. “However, Its obligations to purchase are contingent upon IDA approval of the project.”

The Industrial Development Agency will hold a public hearing on the application before deciding whether to grant the tax breaks.