Press release:
Today, the City of Batavia submitted an application for Governor Cuomo’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI), a statewide competition in which each region will select a winner. Batavia was a Finger Lakes Region finalist in 2016.
Agriculture and food production, next-generation manufacturing, entrepreneurship and pathways to prosperity pillars are shared priorities in Batavia that align with the priorities of the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council. Batavia’s application highlights the progressive quality of life policies and further focuses on placemaking and innovation.
“The City Council has been actively engaging our residents over the last few years with planning around the Batavia Opportunity Area, the 2016 DRI process, the 2017 Comprehensive Planning process and other strategic initiatives that the city has completed,” said Eugene Jankowski Jr., City of Batavia, City Council president.
“This type of investment in Batavia will attract investment and boost the entrepreneurial climate, improve environmental quality and create ethnic diversity in order to enhance the City’s central business district.”
The City’s DRI application describes the current conditions of City and identifies the Batavia Business Improvement District (BID) as the target area for DRI investment to grow jobs, increase regional wealth, drive private investment and reduce poverty. Local stakeholders defined market-based strategies that place emphasis on:
- Arts, Culture & Entertainment;
- Healthy Living & Wellness; and,
- Prosperity for All.
Batavia’s Downtown is a vibrant and robust area with approximately 2,000 people at work among 220 businesses. It is estimated that 12 million pass through the district on an annual basis. DRI investment will literally build around impending Downtown investments like Savarino Companies’ Ellicott Station. The application further identifies a range of projects that would be catalytic to reviving downtown.
The City of Batavia launched a community campaign earlier this year to cause $100 million additional public-private investment to enhance the City by 2022. Winning the $10 million DRI award would be catalytic and fully leveraged to achieve Batavia’s investment goal.
Ray Cianfrini, chairman of the Genesee County Legislature, said, “signing the BP2 agreement to redirect PILOT payments into an infrastructure fund for the City of Batavia was a critical policy that County leadership strongly supports. Now that BP2 is off the ground, Batavia is ready for $10 million to revitalize Downtown, attract more residents, businesses and entertainment to enhance the quality of life.”
Pat Burk, Batavia City School Board president, said, “Our district is working hard to link students with careers in STEM, trades, agriculture and other industries that are growing in the Finger Lakes region, but unfortunately too many of our children are living in poverty and we all must work together to change that.”
Steve Hyde, president and CEO of the Genesee County Economic Development Center, said, “The Governor’s DRI competition provides an amazing opportunity to revitalize the City’s economy. We need to create offerings in the arts, culture and entertainment to attract the creative class to live and work in our urban center.”
Pierluigi Cipollone, president of the Batavia Development Corporation, said, “A $10 million Downtown revitalization grant would drive the economic transformation already taking shape in the City to a new level. DRI also introduces a new approach to celebrate the City’s rich entrepreneurial traditions, cultural appreciation, and the possibility to create more vibrant places.”
Beth Kemp, director of the Downtown Batavia Improvement District, said, “Downtown revitalization impacts not only Downtown, but the community as a whole. Enriching the Downtown with arts and entertainment strengthens the whole community here, both economically and culturally. It's exciting to see all stakeholders see the value of investing strategically and collaboratively in Downtown."
