TOWN OF ULSTER PROBLEMS PILE UP
Supervisor says he’s pessimistic about likelihood of turnaround at TechCity
TechCity’s
future looks bleak to town Supervisor James Quigley.
Quigley on Thursday cited The Farm Bridge’s plan to move from TechCity to the vacant Sears space at nearby Hudson Valley Mall as a sign that problems are deepening at the former IBM property.
“From what I’ve been told, most of the tenants in the back [of the complex] are seeking to get out and relocate,” Quigley said after a Town Board meeting.
The supervisor said his pessimism has deepened since Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. threatened to cut off ser
vice to 39 TechCity tenants last spring because property owner Alan Ginsberg hadn’t paid his utility bills.
That shutoff was averted, as was another one threatened in December, but only because The Farm Bridge stepped up to take responsibility for part of the Central Hudson account. The Farm Bridge’s planned move from the site could complicate matters, Quigley said.
Quigley said Ginsberg fails to follow basic regulations to which landlords are supposed to adhere. For example, the supervisor said, he couldn’t get an accurate list of TechCity tenants from Ginsberg last year amid the effort to keep the lights on and gas flowing.
“We had discussions with Central Hudson because they asked us ... to help them identify who would be adversely impacted by their actions,” Quigley said. “We gave them … what information we had from our Building Department,” he said, but noted it was outdated because Ginsberg had not notified the town about occupancy changes.
Ginsberg was not immediately available for comment Friday.
Ginsberg, a downstate developer, bought the 258acre property from IBM in early 1998, about 2½ years after the computer giant ceased operations there. In the years since, he has had only limited success filling vacant space at the sprawling site; has fought the property’s assessed value in court and failed to pay millions of dollars in taxes; has fallen into delinquency on bank loans; and has left mounds of rubble from demolition work. (Most notable is the pile near the corner of Enterprise Drive and Boice’s Lane that remains from the demolition of the 258,000-square-foot Building 25 some four years ago.)
Banks have threatened Ginsberg with foreclosure over unpaid loans, and Ulster County last year moved to take possession of two tax-delinquent portions to the multi-parcel property due to unpaid taxes.
Contamination left behind by IBM, which operated at the site for about 40 years, also makes charting the site’s future difficult. And contamination that has occurred during Ginsberg’s period of ownership resulted in TechCity being declared a federal Superfund site in late 2019.
Quigley said the result is that it’s difficult to convince businesses at TechCity to stay, let alone attract others to locate there.
In all, Quigley said, there are about $30 million worth of problems at TechCity that need to be resolved to make the site viable again.
“I’m thinking [cleanup costs] are $8 million, and then you’ve got a $7 million mortgage for the buildings along the back, you’ve got $14 million in back taxes,” he said.