A section of downtown Batavia will receive a $17.6 million facelift as a developer begins construction of a multi-use complex on long-vacant property.
Ellicott Station will include a mix of retail, offices, a brewery, a beverage warehouse and hops processing facility, an entertainment and event area, outside seating and a pedestrian pathway. The project is estimated to produce around 60 full-time jobs. Construction on Ellicott Station is slated to begin in August.
The Genesee County Economic Development Center accepted an application for assistance from the Savarino Companies at the agency’s board meeting on Thursday.
“Savarino Companies responded to the RFP and have decided to move forward with a $17 million dollar project that will create around 60 jobs on the site,” said Rachel Tabelski, marketing and communications Director for the GCEDC. “They’ll be rehabbing one of the buildings, one of the existing structures that they were able to save, which we’re thrilled about.”
Planners estimate that for every dollar of public sector investment in the 64,000-square-foot facility, approximately $25 of private sector investment will be generated.
Ellicott Station is one component of a larger plan for the redevelopment of downtown Batavia called the Batavia Pathway to Prosperity, or BP2. The project pools resources from several municipalities, including the City of Batavia, Genesee County and the Batavia City School District, for the restoration a 366-acre area within the city called the Batavia Brownfield Opportunity Area.
“We came up jointly with a program that would help incentivize developers to come to the city of Batavia called the Batavia Pathway to Prosperity,” Tabelski told WBFO. “So this fund allows a developer to come in, as long as it’s within the strategic area that we’ve identified, and received fifty percent of their tax payments back over time.”
Construction of Ellicott Station and future projects through BP2 are anticipated to help the revitalization of rundown areas of downtown Batavia. Tabelski various city municipalities have joined forces in hopes of improving the local economy.
“Our city has a very high unemployment rate, higher than the rest of the county, and a very high rate of poverty. And because of that, we try to find a way to target, infill, and investment into our city,” Tabelski said.
According to a press release from the GCEDC, Batavia plans restoration projects on several strategic redevelopment downtown sites.