HVEDC, Winston Farm owners, town of Saugerties, UCDC proceed to next phases of business park

The Hudson Valley Economic Development Corp. (HVEDC), in cooperation with the owners of Winston Farm, the town of Saugerties and Ulster County Development Corporation (UCDC), are proceeding with a detailed feasibility study and master plan alternatives for the development of the 741-acre Saugerties parcel as a high-tech business park. IDC Architects will continue conducting the feasibility study and build on the data and conclusions of a phase 1 study the firm completed for HVEDC last September. The firm will also conduct community workshops in August and September to help prepare three illustrative master plan concepts. These next phases are expected to be complete by the end of October. In a comprehensive analysis of nine sites in the Hudson Valley, the Saugerties parcel emerged as the top candidate to develop as a high-tech business park. HVEDC paid for the phase 1 study to jump-start the development of a large, new shovel-ready greenfield site to help attract technology businesses and new high-paying jobs to the region. "The biggest barrier to attracting high-tech companies to the Hudson Valley is not having enough large shovel-ready greenfield sites with the infrastructure in place that is required for doing business today," said Marissa Brett, HVEDC vice president. "It can take years and millions of dollars for sites to go through the environmental assessment, the permitting process and infrastructure development and most technology companies can't wait for all that to happen even if the site is perfect. They'll move on to different locations where communities have already developed shovel-ready parks," she asserted. "Winston Farm offers the flexibility of a large greenfield site in an environmentally attractive setting with good access and nearby utilities that can be provided to the site," said Roger Pearson, who is spearheading the studies for IDC Architects. "Of the nine sites we studied for phase 1, the Winston Farm site clearly provided the lowest cost per buildable acre to bring it to greenfield shovel-ready status," he said. Following IDC Architects' presentation of the phase 1 findings and "short list" of recommended sites to the county economic development organizations, the town of Saugerties and the owners of Winston Farm decided to proceed with a phase 2 study to gauge the community's receptiveness to development of Winston Farm. A well-attended community forum in Saugerties on January 29 and follow-up survey were "overwhelmingly positive," according to Greg Helsmoortel, supervisor of the town of Saugerties, which paid for the second phase with help from Ulster County Development Corp. "More than 85% of the residents who responded to the survey indicated that the Town of Saugerties should further investigate the feasibility of a high-tech development at Winston Farm," Mr. Helsmoortel reported. "Of these respondents, the number one priority related to the proposed development project was creation of jobs," he added. "Winston Farm is an ideal large greenfield site for the development of a high-tech business park," said Lance Matteson, president of the Ulster County Development Corp. "It provides easy access off the New York State Thruway, has a good amount of buildable acreage and is well-situated approximately midway between the IBM semiconductor plant in East Fishkill and Albany NanoTech, where cutting-edge R&D is being done by a global consortium of companies. If developed properly, it can help attract substantial new investment and jobs to our county and to the region as a whole." The industries studied during phase 1 as industry targets for the Hudson Valley included semiconductor and flat panel display manufacturing, MEMS/nanotechnology, pharmaceutical/biotechnology, medical device/imaging, solar photovoltaic and data centers. Of these, MEMS/nanotechnology, medical devices/imaging, pharmaceutical/biotechnology and solar photovoltaic manufacturing emerged as recommended targets for the Hudson Valley. "These are all clean industries that pay above-average wages and have growth potential in the U.S. and more specifically in the Hudson Valley," said HVEDC's Brett. The phase 3 feasibility study and phase 4 master plan studies are being funded by HVEDC (approximately 45%), the town of Saugerties (approximately 10%, with support from Friends of Winston Farm) and Winston Farm owners (approximately 45%). All of the information and plans generated in these two phases will be developed in a form that is suitable for an eventual State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) application, an environmental impact assessment required in New York State. The phase 3 feasibility study for the Winston Farm site will look closely at land use/zoning, transportation (including a preliminary traffic study), utility requirements, preliminary identification of environmental implications and an "order of magnitude" of probable construction cost. Phase 4 will be accomplished through a series of interactive workshops and rapid prototyping sessions with the community at large, as well as with the property owners, town of Saugerties and Ulster County officials, utility company officials, environmental officials and others. "Our intent is to develop concepts that have the support of-and indeed a pride of authorship by-the community as a whole," said IDC Architects' Pearson. Each of the three master plan concepts will be illustrated in 2D and 3D formats suitable for use in public meetings, he said. "We are excited that the Winston Farms project is taking these next important steps and that we have a strong public-private partnership with the town, county and regional economic development organizations," said Carolyn Specht, who is representing Winston Farm which is owned by the Schaller family. "We hope that the ultimate result is the creation of a clean, green business park that will improve our tax base and help give local residents good quality employment opportunities for years to come."