Theater plan gets initial city approval

TROY, N.Y. >> The latest plan to develop the longvacant, riverfront site of the former City Hall took its first step forward Wednesday night with the approval, despite some concerns, of a land development agreement for One Monument Square by the City Council’s Finance Committee.

Approval of the agreement by the full council at its May 4 regular meeting would be the first of a string of municipal OKs needed before Bonacio Construction and Bow Tie Cinemas can begin construction of a proposed $18 million,

nine- screen cineplex. The companies hope to begin construction by fall, with doors planned to open in time for the 2018 holiday season.

The committee, which comprises every council member, voted 8-1 in favor of the agreement, with only Councilman Jim Gulli, R-District 1, in opposition. Gulli said he was concerned the project would put the city in a no-win situation, with a successful theater compounding a shortage of downtown parking.

“If it’s successful, we’ll have a parking problem,” he said during the meeting. “If it’s not successful, we’ll have another empty building.”

Gulli’s concern that the 120 proposed parking spaces would be far from adequate for what Bow Tie expects will be as many as 10,000 customers weekly was shared by other council members, including Robert Doherty, D-District 4. Doherty, though, said he felt those issues could be addressed during mandatory reviews of the project by the city’s Planning Commission and shouldn’t hold up a sale agreement.

“I don’t think the 120 spots for parking are ade-

quate,” Doherty said, “but I think [the developers] can take adequate steps to reconfigure parking.”

Monument Square would be the fourth Bow Tie theater in the Capitol Region, joining facilities in downtown Schenectady and Saratoga Springs, as well as Wilton Mall. Bonacio and Bow Tie teamed up previously to open Criterion Cinemas in a former Price Chopper supermarket just off Broadway on Railroad Place in Saratoga Springs and to renovate the theater in Wilton Mall. The Troy theater would share many of the same luxury amenities as the other area Bow Ties, including more than 1,300 reclining seats and a full restaurant and bar.

Council President Carmella Mantello expressed several concerns with both the development agreement and plans for the theater the developers admit are very preliminary. She first questioned a sale price of $600,000, $50,000 less than the sale price for the most-recent failed development proposal for the site. Steven Strichman, the city’s commissioner of planning and economic development, said he was apprised by several area appraisers and real estate professionals to “take that $600,000 and be happy with it.”

This latest proposal will be the fourth in six years

since City Hall was demolished in 2011 because of damage done to its support structure during flooding along the Hudson River in 2006. The most recent of those proposals fell through last summer, when Kirchhoff Properties, a downstate developer, pulled out of a proposed deal to buy the property from the city for $650,000 after two years of changing plans that sparked a public outcry led by a group of downtown merchants who took the moniker We Care About the Square.

Mantello also questioned a clause in the agreement that allowed the developers to extend the option to buy the land for as long as 30 months, pointing out Kirchhoff only allowed for a maximum 18 months of extensions.

“I think tying that property up for 30 months is a concern,” she said.

Strichman said the developers built that clause in only as protection in case of a “worst case, what if” situation, reminding her that they are tied to a tight schedule to take advantage of $3.9 million in state grant funding targetted for redevelopment of the property.

“They’re not going to be slowing this down,” he said, “because they know speed is of the essence.”

The Monument Square

development will also be tied to a proposal by Bonacio and Bow Tie Cinema to redevelop the historic American Theater, which is next door to the Bonacio-owned Dauchy Building. The theater opened in the 1920s, but was screening adult films when it was closed in 2006 after police said patrons were engaging in sex acts in the theater. Bonacio is planning a $3 million renovation of the building that was awarded more than $775,000 in state funding in January through Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Restore New York Communities Initiative.

Mantello also proposed that the deal be amended to require the council approve any request for an extension, but that failed after fellow council members questioned if such authority was within their purview as legislators and whetehr it would send a bad message to future developers.

“I think it’s important that developers know who they’re dealing with,” said fellow Republican and District 3 Councilman Dean Bodnar. “They deal with the commissioner of planning, they deal with the city engineer — if we have one — and they deal with the mayor’s office. [Requiring council approval] would be sending the wrong message.”