Business View Magazine - October 2018

180 181 right on the waterfront with access to one of the few deep-water ports in the Great Lakes, along with the rail line, and it’s just minutes away form the thruway Interstate system. Layer that with the lucrative brownfield tax credits that are available to investors in the property, and you have a beau- tiful combination of assets.” According to Drew Shapiro, City of Lackawanna Director of Development, “Now that the Coun- ty has invested in the Bethlehem Steel site, the City is attempting to lure companies here.We’ve changed some zoning and permissible uses and tried to be an infrastructure partner. The County has taken the lead on environmental remediation and we’re helping where we can.We continue to be vigilant on housing code enforcement and invest in housing for the seniors in our communi- ty.We just demolished the old Lincoln School and we’re hoping to put 15 to 20 houses there.” Another game-changing development is hap- pening directly to the north of Lackawanna, at the former Solar City, where a new Tesla operation will employ over 1,000 people. Meanwhile, in the heart of the City, Lackawanna has secured $2.5 million from the State to enhance and upgrade the central business district, which is now getting off the ground with infrastructure, recreation, and culture improvements, as well as a multi-use economic development project. Reinvigorating the downtown will bring an added vibrancy to CITY OF LACKAWANNA, NEWYORK the core area, which already features the beautiful Botanical Gardens, and Our Lady of Victory Roman Catholic Basilica that brings in thousands of tourists, annually. For the Steel City to reinvent itself, strategic marketing is a necessity. John Cappellino, Ex- ecutive Vice President of ECIDA, says,“We have engaged consultants to collaborate with us on master planning. It’s an interesting transition fromwhat was a one-industry site in the steel business, to multiple parcels and tenants for the economic transformation that’s going on in the country.We’re actively working with our part- ners, including Empire State Redevelopment (the state arm for outreach) and our regional organization, Invest Buffalo-Niagara.And we are getting a lot of interest in big parcel sizes from companies that need utility services and have locational requirements that this unique site can address. It’s not your typical five to ten-acre industrial park.When you have 1,000 acres, you can provide larger site footprints.” This is no small commitment, redeveloping a former industrial stronghold is very expen- sive. The County has put eight to ten million dollars already into infrastructure, the state has contributed funds, and the City of Lacka- wanna has been verycooperativewithzoning and