ONEONTA _ A deal for the city to acquire 1 Dietz St. as part of the redevelopment of the former Bresee's complex moved closer to being finalized this week.
The Common Council on Tuesday approved a transfer of title agreement with Otsego County Development Corp.; the authorization to use a $233,000 grant from an Urban Development Action Grant toward the local share of a $2.5 million Restore NY state grant; and adopted the city's 2009 UDAG budget.
OCDC Administrator Carolyn Lewis, who is also the county's economic developer, said the city's UDAG funding will go toward the $225,000 purchase of the building from a private owner, and the transfer-of-title agreement would allow OCDC to own the building and add the 0.2 acre, L-shaped property to the economic development project. A similar arrangement was used to acquire the main portions of the former Bresee's complex at 155-161 Main St., Lewis said.
OCDC is the county's oldest nonprofit economic development corporation.
Maurice Ramos, the former owner of the 155-161 Main St. property, sold 1 Dietz St. to Michael Treanor of North Babylon on Nov. 20, 2008, for $112,000, according to the Otsego County Office of Real Property.
The property has a total assessed value of $175,000.
Treanor had competed to redevelop the former Bresee's complex, but OCDC awarded the contract in May 2008 to the Ohio-based developer Bloomfield/Schon.
A deal to purchase the building from Treanor is near closure, Lewis said.
The 75,000-square-foot complex at 155-161 Main St. has been largely vacant for more than 10 years and has significant roof damage and other structural problems.
Ramos donated the main complex in 2007 to the National Emergency Medicine Association, a nonprofit medical-education organization, in exchange for a tax break. The city is leasing the complex from OCDC for $1 a year after city and OCDC officials engineered a transfer-of-title agreement with NEMA.
The leading options for the redevelopment include the creation of between 20 and 30 apartments and mixed-use, including retail, according to Bloomfield/Schon.
A rear portion of the complex, along with the street property of 1 Dietz St., would be used for parking, and the city is also considering changes to the Wall Street area behind the complex.
The building at 1 Dietz St., which is vacant, would be renovated as part of the project, Lewis said.
The city has received about $4 million in state funding. Private equity being lined up by Bloomfield/Schon, who would eventually own the property, would bring the overall cost of the project to about $9 million, according to Lewis and Oneonta Mayor John Nader.
In addition, the aluminum facade at 155-161 Main St. is expected to be removed within the next few weeks, Lewis said.
