Legislature OKs transfer of TechCity parcels
The town of Ulster site known as Enterprise West will be turned over to the county Economic Development Alliance.
KINGSTON, N.Y. » Ulster County lawmakers on Tuesday approved the transfer of county-owned property at the former IBM site in the town of Ulster to the Ulster County Economic Development Alliance, a move that county officials say will put the property back on the tax rolls and bring new economic development to the long-abandoned site.
The transfer, approved unanimously by the county Legislature, will allow the Economic Development Alliance, acting as a local development corporation, to market the site, now known as Enterprise West, while allowing the county to maintain control over the type of development that goes there.
The site, on the west side of Enterprise Drive in Ulster, was used by IBM before the computer maker shut down its local operation in 1995. It then became part of TechCity, the name that downstate developer Alan Ginsberg gave the entire campus when he bought it from the computer giant in 1998. The main building on the Enterprise West property for a time was occupied by Fleet Bank and then Bank of America, both of which processed income tax returns for New York state.
In a statement following the Legislature’s Tuesday’s meeting, Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan called the property transfer “a major step in reimagining the former TechCity site.”
“After years of decay, we finally now have a viable path forward to reimagine and rebuild this critical site, which has long represented the shell of past economic success,” Ryan said. “We have an opportunity now, as we begin to emerge from the pandemic, to rebuild better and stronger than we were before, to leverage our resilience during the pandemic into the energy and cooperation it will take to build a more people-centered economy going forward.”
Ulster County took ownership of two parcels on the west side of Enterprise Drive in November 2019 due to nonpayment of property taxes by TechCity. The parcels total 82 acres, including a 24.7-acre site that has three attached vacant buildings on it.
Earlier this month, Ryan announced the county had received more than 20 proposals for the redevelopment of all or part of Enterprise West, including five to purchase some or all of the site, 11 to rent or lease some or all of the site, and 12 to provide services to assist the county in redeveloping the site.
The Economic Development Alliance board ultimately will decide on the disposition of the property.
While county legislators voted unanimously to transfer the property to the alliance, two legislators expressed concern about what they said were unresolved issues surrounding the composition of the alliance’s board.
Ryan appoints five members of the seven-member board. The other two seats go to the chairman and deputy chairman of the Legislature’s Economic Development, Tourism, Housing, Planning and Transit Committee.
During a recent legislative committee meeting, several legislators said they were concerned by what they said was an imbalance on the board and that three of the seven members were members of Ryan’s staff. Deputy County Executive John Milgrim said the staff members would be removed from the committee because the county will be responsible for providing administrative duties to the alliance.
“While I’m pleased to hear the county executive will remove paid county employees from board, there continues to be an imbalance on the board,” said Legislator Lynn Archer, DAccord. She said she hopes Ryan considers appointing additional lawmakers to the board when he fills those seats.
Legislator Tracey Bartels agreed and said there “appears to be a sense that the outcome is predetermined.” She also said the Economic Development Alliance must be willing to allow for outside audits, including by county Comptroller March Gallagher
“This is a multimilliondollar endeavor, and many of us have been on record not wanting to be landlord,” said Bartels, a nonenrolled legislator from Gardiner who aligns with Democrats.