Schenectady County, N.Y. — The Town of Rotterdam will move forward today with the selection of a development team for the former Curry Road Plaza, a vacant 12-acre site on a busy corridor in Rotterdam. Plans call for razing the two existing buildings on the site to be replaced by four new buildings with a total new investment of $20 million. This project is a joint effort with Schenectady County and is another example of the progress made through the County’s unified economic development team. Earlier this year, the Town and County worked together to develop an RFP for the property which is owned by the Town.

Town Supervisor Harry Buffardi said, “Curry Road Plaza has been an eyesore in Rotterdam for many years. Today we move ahead with a development team that will bring new life to this site with a mix of retail and senior housing. This will mean new jobs and investment in our community.”

Judy Dagostino, Chairwoman of the Schenectady County Legislature said, “This is great news for the residents of Rotterdam and Schenectady County. By working together with the Town, we are breathing new life into this long-time eyesore and creating something our residents can take pride in.”

Town officials today announced that a team headed by Forum Industries, Inc. of Clifton Park, NY and Whitney Capital Company LLC of Lake Success, NY has been selected to develop the site. The Forum-Whitney team will pay the Town $375,000 for the property.

The developers will present their project to the Town Board on October 10 with final approval expected on October 24th.

The winning development proposal includes plans for two buildings to be built on Curry Road. The two buildings will feature retail and office users – one building at 2,500 square feet and the other 4,000 square feet.

Behind the two new retail buildings that front on Curry Road, the Forum-Whitney Team plans to build two, three-story buildings totaling 120,000 square feet. The two buildings will feature 180 senior apartments with a mix of one and two bedroom units, business center, gym, outdoor patio and other amenities.

The developers plan to use green building methods to construct the new senior apartments. Approximately 2.5 acres of the 12 acre site will be preserved as a nature area with trails. Another .27 acres will be donated by the development team to the Rotterdam Fire District #2 for future expansions.

Andrew Sciocchetti, CEO and President of Forum Industries said, “We are excited about moving forward with the Town and County to redevelop Curry Road Plaza.”

Forum Industries develops and constructs commercial and multi-family residential units in Upstate New York. The firm most recently completed a 70 unit Affordable Senior Housing project in Clifton Park, and has two other local sites in development for senior housing. Mr. Sciocchetti also owns and operates AJS Masonry, Inc, a major construction subcontractor in the Capital Region.

Tom Granville, Managing Director of Whitney Capital Company LLC said “Our firm is excited about working with Forum Industries, the Town of Rotterdam and Schenectady County to bring new life to this site while also addressing the local need for senior rental housing.”

The principals of Whitney Capital Company LLC, Garry Munson and Tom Granville, have developed and retained an interest in over 5,000 units of multi-family housing nationwide. The firm’s management affiliate, Whitney Management Corp, now manages New York senior housing communities in the City of Saratoga Springs, Amherst, Hamburg, Riverhead, Hampton Bays and Farmingdale.

The County’s economic development team has been successful in redeveloping a number of vacant or underutilized shopping plazas in Schenectady County including the former Capitol Plaza in Rotterdam, the former Kmart Plaza in Glenville, the former St. James Square in Niskayuna and the Crosstown Plaza in Schenectady.

Redevelopment of the Curry Road site is a major priority for the County’s economic development team. To make the site shovel ready for the new senior housing and retail project, extensive work has been completed in the last twenty four months to prepare the site for demolition and redevelopment. These activities were implemented by the Rotterdam IDA and later the Schenectady County IDA which is administered by Metroplex as part of the County’s unified economic development team.

The project developers will complete required State and local reviews with plans to begin demolition and site work in 2013.

For more information, see www.forumind.com and www.whitneycap.com.