Genesee County Economic Development Center

Grand Island-based developer David Mazur isn't just 100 percent sure his proposed 80-unit apartment complex across the street from Genesee Community College will consist only of market-rate apartments. He's "1,000 percent" sure.

He's not going to turn to state or federal agencies to help fund his project, as Sam Savarino did with Ellicott Station, he told The Batavian during an interview on Thursday after he presented his plans to the Genesee County Economic Development Center board of directors.

He told The Batavian the same thing he told the GCEDC board a few minutes earlier.  In 18 years of building apartment complexes, he's only built and leased out market-rate units. That's his business model. That's what he knows how to do.

The proposed complex, now called MedTech Landing, on Assemblyman R. Stephen Hawley Drive, will cost $15 million to build. It will be 100,000 square feet with 80 apartments and 60 parking garages.

When completed, there will be 24 three-bedroom apartments, 42 two-bedroom, and 14 one-bedroom, with rents ranging from more than $1,300 a month to more than $2,000 a month.  

Tenants will be required to have a job with a monthly income of 3.5 times the monthly rental price, which, Steve Hyde calculated, would mean at least $55,000 in annual salary for a one-bedroom apartment and more than $82,000 for three bedrooms.

Hyde said he wants people to hear that the complex is going to be market rate because, "you know, of the challenging situation we had downtown with an affordable complex that is now stuck. I wanted to demonstrate how different this is from that and that this really what this agency's focus is trying to bring up."

In an earlier press release about the project from GCECD, a point Hyde also emphasized on Thursday, a 2018 housing study for Genesee County indicated a strong need for market-rate houses and apartments in Genesee County.  There needs to be more than 4,000 new units built in the county over the next 20 years, according to the study.

Mazur said, based on his 18 years of experience, about half of his tenants will be retirees, and about half will be professionals.

The retirees like the first-floor apartments, he said. 

"Some people have never lived in anything brand new," Mazur said. "They don't want to deal with their house anymore. A husband or wife has passed. They want to have a sense of a little bit of community, but not too much of a community where they can have a couple of neighbors, it's okay. But they don't want to take care of the lawn, the ice, the snow, the plowing, all that stuff. For them, it's clean, it's fresh."

He recalled one tenant he had in one of his complexes who was excited to live in a place with brand-new plumbing and fixtures for the first time. 

"She's 70-something years old, lived her whole life, you know, and now she has the opportunity to live in something that's brand new and fresh and modern," he said.

Not all professionals, for various personal reasons, are ready to commit to homeownership, and apartments are a better fit for their lifestyles.

Mazur said after a previous story by The Batavian about his plans, an attorney with one of the local government agencies contacted him.

"He said, 'Hey, when are you going to have these ready? I'd love it. I want to move in,'" Mazur said. "It's just one of those little things that I think, as soon as the word gets out, people start seeing and hearing about it, they want to get in."

Even though the complex will be across the street from a community college, Mazur doesn't anticipate any college student tenants.  The typical college student can't afford market-rate rents, he said, and all tenants must meet the income requirements, and he doesn't allow tenants to have co-signers.

These will be nice apartments, Mazur said. Quality fixtures, hardware and fittings with granite countertops.

The nearly 10-acre lot Mazur plans to build on is adjacent to the MedTech Center, which contains GCEDC's main office.  It's west of the building. Mazur has an approved sale agreement with Genesee Gateway Local Development Corporation, an adjunct to GCEDC, for $200,000.

MedTech Landing LLC is seeking a sales tax exemption estimated at $720,000, a property tax abatement of approximately $3,031,048, and a mortgage tax exemption of $120,000.  

The board approved a resolution on Thursday to accept the application and direct the staff to schedule a public hearing. The date for the hearing has not yet been announced.

Mazur expects to finalize financing for the $15 million project with a local bank today (Friday).  Once that's in place, he indicated, there will be no need to turn to NYS Homes and Community Renewal, as Savarino did, to close the financing gap.

Pending that final financing letter, and some loose ends to tie up with the Town of Batavia on project approval, he will sign contracts with a bevy of subcontractors, which are already committed through letters of intent, he told the board.  

The disruption to construction material prices caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is waning, he said, though finding trade workers is still a challenge.

Weather permitting, he expects the first shovel in the ground in March, with the first units available for tenants by December.

While he said there aren't really "phases" to the construction plan, he does intend to have units available for new tenants before all 80 units are completed.

Even though the complex is outside the City of Batavia and away from its primary commercial center, he expects local businesses to benefit from the new complex, he said.

He said people who want a little more spaciousness, more of a country feel, will be attracted to his units. 

"I'm never going to compete against somebody that wants to be downtown and live in downtown," Mazur said. "(But) the benefit to the city, is absolutely, you're gonna have 80 units. Maybe it ends up being two people per unit, there's one bedroom or three bedrooms, but an average of two (per unit). It's 160 people. They still gotta shop. They gotta eat. They're gonna visit the local bars and the eateries downtown. So, yes, I think there's gonna be an economic value to the city itself."

While a few prospective tenants of the stalled Ellicott Station strategize their next move, folks at Genesee County Economic Development Center apparently believe they are making headway.

A few of the tenants chosen for the Southside apartment complex are considering possible legal action against Savarino Companies for pulling out of the project that has left them dangling with hope that they might still have a new home come 2024. As one tenant said, it’s about “what Savarino did to all of us, ‘cause it’s not fair to us.”

Meanwhile, Steve Hyde, CEO of the county’s economic center, gave a brief yet vaguely optimistic statement this week that his agency has been working with Sam Savarino and the state Office of Housing and Community Renewal to get Ellicott Station back on track.

Hyde and his lead staff reviewed this past year’s activity during the county’s Ways and Means meeting. As noted in prior articles on The Batavian, City Manager Rachael Tabelski has said that developers have expressed interest in Ellicott Station, and Hyde provided further confirmation that talks are progressing.

“And, of course, our favorite project sits here, nearby. And you know, what I could say about Ellicott Station is I've been in the middle of discussions with the developer, general partner, the investors, and state housing. That's all in the sorting-out phase. But what I can say to you is it's likely we'll see a different general partner coming in at some point,” he said. “And I think what we'll end up with is a project that will be better than what we currently had or what was previously designed. 

"I think there's some additional willingness by the housing HCR to work with us and be a little more flexible. It may not be perfect, but we'll end up with a better situation than we had," he said. "I can’t say any more than that right now. But at least it's in the sorting out phase, and there's quite a bit of interest.”

As for GCEDC’s remaining portfolio, there were 75 projects that “committed $937 million of capital investment” versus the prior 76 projects at a $162 million investment, demonstrating what Mark Masse said was “just a much larger scale.”

After celebrating her 10th year on the Legislature, along with Marianne Clattenburg as EDC liaison, it’s been amazing to watch “the incredible investment that helps our local taxpayers,” Chair Shelley Stein said.

“By having these opportunities for the creation of these businesses, the careers, it enhances our entire foundation of our economy here and careers. Our schools benefit from it. Our communities benefit from the investment,” she said. “So some days are hard, some days are, you know, celebratory days. But this work is important to us here in Genesee County. Thank you.”

Some of those hard days have been dealing with and enduring the lag of that Ellicott Station project, which stopped in mid-August when Savarino announced the closing of his company due to a financial snag with a project at Alfred State College and a loss of more than $3 million. 

Since then, city and county, along with HCR officials, have said they are working on moving forward, potentially with a new developer and financial agreements and construction schedule.

Tenants that were chosen in May for the 55 apartments received word earlier this month that they might want to search out alternative housing options since there’s no guarantee about when Ellicott Station will be ready for occupancy.