Photo by Howard Owens.
Just before 5 p.m. on Thursday, a worker with A-Verdi Storage Containers removed an apparent mobile unit that seemed to have served as the on-site office of Savarino Companies at the Ellicott Station construction site.
The Savarino sign that had been on the unit was removed, and a metal desk and storage cabinet sat on the ground outside of it.
The driver confirmed he was removing the unit from the site and was later seen hauling it west on Ellicott Street.
More than a week ago, Developer Sam Savarino announced he was shutting down his company, citing massive losses from a dispute over a dormitory project at Alfred State College.
While at times it has appeared that work has continued this past week on the $22 million Ellicott Station apartment complex, the project is supposedly without a general contractor with the closure of Savarino Companies. Sam Savarino has said his management company is still in business, still running the project, and will seek a new general contractor.
City Manager Rachael Tabelski has said there has been no communication from Savarino regarding the status of the project, which is subject to multiple financial agreements involving the city, the state and GCEDC.
Reached on Thursday evening, Tabelski told The Batavian that there have still been no updates from Savarino. She said she has heard that other general contractors and developers are contacting Savarino, expressing interest in the project.
"The city and GCEDC have been talking with potential developers who have initial interest in taking over the project, but there will be a lot of financials to unwind, if this is in-fact possible to reassign grants and pay off lenders, etc."
She said there is nothing concrete to report at this time, and there is a meeting with NYS Housing and Community Renewal, a major government funder of the project and has expressed a commitment to The Batavian in seeing the project completed.
HCR initially awarded Savarino $1.2 million per year of low-income housing tax credits for 10 years based on his ability to secure investors and more recently awarded Savarino $5.7 million in low-income housing tax credits for the downtown apartment project.
"HCR has been actively monitoring the progress of the construction of Ellicott Station and will continue to do so as we work to ensure completion of this critical project and deliver 55 affordable homes to Batavia,” a spokesperson for HCR told The Batavian a week ago.
For all of The Batavian's previous coverage on Ellicott Station, click here.
