Purcell Interest in Whitesboro Street Property Depends on Nano

Purcell Realty has reached out to the City of Utica with a renewed interested in the Whitesboro Street property behind the Utica Memorial Auditorium. The only condition is the forward progress of NANO Utica.

It was shortly after the announcement that AMS would be backing out of the Nano Utica deal that Purcell Realty announced they would be putting their deal on hold to purchase the nearly 5 acre lot behind the Utica Aud. Now it seems there is a renewed interest in the project.

According to a letter sent to Mayor Rob Palmieri from Mike Purcell, the original reason for their withdraw from closing on the land was due to an appraisal done by GAR Associates. Purcell writes, "Based on their [GAR] work, It was determined that the market for our proposed development depended entirely on the work at Nano Utica proceeding forward in a timely manner." Purcell goes on to say in the letter with the AMS announcement, "it will be nearly impossible to secure bank financing given the findings of our market study."

Purcell's letter says that after speaking with high-ranking New York State officials their interest has been renewed and they are confident in the future of Nano Utica. Purcell states however, "Unfortunately, until some announcement to that effect is made we are unable to proceed with the expediency that we had first suggested." In the event that a new tenant for the chip-fab plant is confirmed, Purcell believes they will receive the financial backing they would require.

Utica 4th Ward Councilman Joe Marino feels that re-marketing and rescinding Purcell's offer is the best course of action. Marino says, "They are in breach of their application by their own admission with losing financing, solely based on a NANO Utica announcement, so in turn we need to get busy with selling this valuable piece of land.  Any future stalling is detrimental to the city and shouldn't be acceptable." Marino will join us on 'First News with Keeler in the Morning' at 7 a.m. on Friday morning.

In closing, the letter requests that Urban Renewal re-market the property, and if an alternate offer is made that Purcell be granted a 30 day period to counter-offer. Purcell claims that their counter-offer would "include a firm commitment to close on the property and advance construction within a concrete timeline."

The future of Nano Utica is still up in the air, but local officials have met with the Governor and Howard Zemsky of Empire State Development who are still fully committed to the project.

MORE: Remember This Day?