Schenectady, N.Y., October 21, 2010 – Schenectady County officials today announced that the owner of the vacant Kmart Plaza in Glenville has signed a letter of agreement with a major national retailer to build a new store at the site, which is located at the corner of Route 50 and Glenridge Road.

“Redevelopment of the Kmart site in Glenville has been one of our top priorities,” said Susan Savage, Chairwoman of the Schenectady County Legislature.  “This plan and the addition of a major national retailer will mean increased sales tax, property tax and new jobs for Schenectady County.  This is great news for Glenville and the entire County.”

The plan calls for a $17 million investment that will feature a major national retailer in a 134,000 square foot store along with a smaller attached building of approximately 30,000 square feet that will feature other shops and retail outlets, plus a pad site for future retail development.

The owner of the Plaza, an affiliate of RD Management of New York City, plans to close on the sale of the property with the national retailer in the late summer of 2011 following all required state and local approvals.  RD Management will retain ownership of the smaller 30,000 square foot retail building and pad site.  Once all approvals are granted, construction would start in the fall of 2011 with the new retailers opening in 2012.

RD Management is based in New York City. The company is one of the largest privately held real estate development and management companies in the United States.  The company owns and operates more than 18 million square feet of neighborhood and community shopping centers throughout the United States.

Rick Birdoff of RD Management said, “We are excited to be part of the redevelopment of this important and strategically located site in the Town of Glenville.  We look forward to working with the County, Metroplex and the Town to bring this long-awaited project to fruition.  In these difficult economic times it is important for all parties to work closely together to create jobs, tax revenues and a successful development.”

At last night’s meeting of the Schenectady County Metroplex Development Authority, the board adopted a resolution beginning the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) review process. Metroplex as it has done for many other projects will coordinate reviews of the project with State, County and Town agencies.

The vacant Kmart and former Albany Public Market stores at the current site will be torn down as part of the redevelopment plan.

Metroplex Chair and Commissioner of Economic Development of Schenectady County Ray Gillen said, “We are very pleased to be moving this important project forward. We appreciate the cooperation of RD Management in moving forward with plans for the site.”

For more information, see www.rdmanagement.com.