ECIDA approves $1.38 million tax abatement package to aid Orchard Park senior housing development

The Erie County Industrial Development Agency's (ECIDA) board of directors approved $1.38 million in inducements to assist construction of Eagle Crest Senior Village in Orchard Park. The board approved a package that includes approximately $1 million in property tax savings, along with more than $300,000 in sales tax abatements, and $79,000 in mortgage recording tax savings. "It is a great project supported by the town board that will provide much needed senior housing to an underserved portion of the Southtowns," said ECIDA COO Al Culliton. RM3 Holding, LLC, a subsidiary of Calamar, a North Tonawanda commercial development and construction firm, plans to build a 90-unit independent senior living complex. The 82,000 s/f, two-story facility will be located on a 24-acre site along Weiss Ave. In researching demand for senior housing in the Southtowns, Calamar said it estimates the "over 60" population of the town, Hamburg and West Seneca will increase from a current 27.9% of the population, to over 34% in the next five years. Calamar developed the 110-unit Woodlands Senior Village in North Tonawanda in 2008, and is also weighing a similar 110-unit senior development in the town of Hamburg. The ECIDA board also approved a $65,000 tax abatement package for Windham Professionals, Inc. The national debt recovery company is planning a $740,000 upgrade of its East Aurora office to accommodate a significant new collection contract with the U.S. Department of Education. The Massachusetts-based firm had contemplated servicing the new Department of Education business from an office in Tennessee. Windham, which will grow its local workforce from 80 to 200, will purchase a range of new equipment, computers, and furniture for its 300 Gleed Ave. office. The ECIDA also continued its efforts to support Buffalo's Joint Schools Construction Board by approving a tax exempt bond package for phase four of the $1.45 billion public schools modernization program. The board approved a bond amount not to exceed $360 million for the next phase of school renovation and expansion. The agency board also approved a $175,000 operating assistance loan for Ttarp Industries, located at 336 Scajaquada St., in Buffalo. Ttarp designs and manufactures automatic steel-rule die cutting systems, laminating equipment, vertical band saws and horizontal splitters.