Garrett building may lose tax incentive

PENN YAN—Chief Executive Officer of the Finger Lakes Economic Development Center (FLEDC) Steve Griffin said March should be the month some sort of action happens with the former Garrett Winery building. Located along Liberty Street in Penn Yan, the building has stood empty with space available for lease. Griffin said if FLEDC needs to see something “very soon” or they will have to cancel the payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement.
Griffin said he had taken another prospective business through the building recently. Griffin said the FLEDC “will have something figured out by March.” He mentioned the challenge they have is the inside of the Garrett building. Griffin said there is quite a bit of build out needed for the infrastructure in the building.
Griffin said the internal infrastructure in the site would have to be built out, which would include a lot of moving around in the inside. He said it would include “significant expense, but is not impossible.” Griffin said there is not an unwillingness to do something with the building, but he is looking for ways on how to handle the situation.
In other business:
• Jim Long was appointed as chairman of the FLEDC board.
• Community Development Director Alex Taylor said they are continuing their work on creating a speaker series for middle school-aged students. Griffin said they want to have speakers who have come from difficult backgrounds who have gone on to success within the community. he said applications have been sent out and are waiting for those to come back in.