A former P&C grocery store sits vacant in Valley Plaza in Syracuse. The Syracuse Industrial Development Agency approved tax exemptions on May 17, 2011 to persuade Tops Markets to open a supermarket in the plaza on South Salina Street. Syracuse, N.Y. --
The Syracuse Industrial Development Agency
on Tuesday approved tax exemptions worth about $572,378 that could pave the way for a
to open in a South Side neighborhood that has no large grocery store.
The owner of the largely vacant Valley Plaza — where Tops hopes to locate — promised to invest $1.3 million to spruce up the plaza in return for the exemptions.
The agency voted 4-0 to approve a payment-in-lieu-of-tax agreement, and exemptions from the state mortgage recording tax and from sales taxes on construction materials, for Valley Plaza, at 4141 S. Salina St. The plaza's owner, 2468 Group Inc., an affiliate of Buffalo developer Carl Paladino's Ellicott Development Co., said it plans to "stabilize and re-energize" the plaza, which is 78 percent vacant.
Ellicott Development proposes to renovate 36,000 square feet of a vacant former P&C supermarket in the plaza for Tops Markets, 12,000 square feet for the clothing store Citi Trends, and the rest of the plaza for tenants yet to be identified.
The industrial development agency also voted 4-0 to give Tops Markets an exemption from sales taxes on construction materials. The supermarket said it plans to spend $1.1 million for its own renovations to the former P&C store and $1.8 million to equip its store.
The property tax deal with the plaza’s owner doesn’t become final unless approved by the Syracuse Common Council. The council is expected to vote on Monday.
City and neighborhood officials are eager to see Tops open a store in the plaza because the area has lacked a full-size supermarket since the P&C store closed in 2009.
Phil Prehn, a community organizer for Syracuse United Neighbors, said residents of the area, especially those without a car, have had to rely on small corner grocery stores since P&C closed.
“We’re very happy to see some kind of development go into the plaza,” he said.
Prehn said he also would like to see Tops hire neighborhood residents. Tops said the store will employ 82.
William Paladino, CEO of Ellicott Development, said renovations to the plaza may start in July.
However, it is not yet a certainty that Tops will open a store there.
Bart Coleman, director of real estate for Tops, said the supermarket chain has applied for funding from the New York Healthy Food & Healthy Communities Fund, a $30 million state fund to provide grants and loans for food markets in under-served communities. Coleman said he was not sure Tops would open a store without that aid.
Under its proposed payment-in-lieu-of-tax deal, 2468 Group would pay property taxes on the plaza for seven years based on the city’s current, $2.37 million assessment on the plaza. The company currently pays $94,248 a year in property taxes. After seven years, the assessment would increase over the next three years so that the owner is paying property taxes on the full market value by year 11.
Ben Walsh, deputy commissioner of the city Office of Neighborhood & Business Development, said Ellicott will save about $48,000 in sales taxes and $14,000 in mortgage recording tax. The plaza’s owner would pay about $410,378 less in property taxes over 11 years with the exemption, city officials said.
Tops expects to save about $100,000 through the sales tax exemption, he said.
Contact Rick Moriarty at rmoriarty@syracuse.com or 470-3148.