Another step in the development of the former Chalmers property on the South Side of Amsterdam was taken with the Common Council’s approval on Tuesday of a resolution authorizing the mayor to sign a purchase contract for the sale of the city-owned land to KCG Development.
The contract formalizes details of the sale which were outlined in a letter of intent which was approved by the council for the mayor to sign in April. The purchase price of the property will be $300,000 with a $30,000 deposit due within 10 days of the signing of the contract.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Mayor Michael Villa says he expects groundbreaking for the project to be in the spring of 2018 and will include residential units, retail space, a restaurant, and a banquet facility. He said a single bedroom apartment is expected to start at $750 per month.
“This housing is geared toward the working class, or seniors, or empty-nesters. There is an extreme need in this city for quality housing,” said Villa.
According to the contract, the developer will have an inspection period during which the company may conduct environmental testing of the property as well as make any other inspections or evaluations to determine the “desirability and utility of the property.”
Under the terms of the contract, the length of the inspection period could potentially last either until October 2018 or until the date the developer receives preliminary allocation of low-income housing tax credits for the property from the New York State Housing Finance Agency in an amount deemed sufficient by the developer, whichever date comes first.
The contract also states that at any time during the inspection period, the developer can reject the property for “any or no reason” and receive their deposit back.
The contract allows the developers to extend the inspection period for up to two 90 day periods by placing additional $10,000 deposits for each period.
The closing date is specified to be not later than 60 days past the end the of the inspection period.
The city’s 2017-2018 fiscal year, which ends in June 2018, was balanced with the expectation of the full $300,000 in revenue from the sale of the property.
After the approval of the contract resolution, Villa said “it’s a very exciting project for the city, really. It’s an economic boost not only to the south side, but I think you’re going to see a continuum of growth resulting from that,” said Villa.
