Tag: economic development

Aug 11

2019

A problematic downtown development project

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The last temptation is the greatest treason: to do the right deed for the wrong reason. —T. S. Eliot When one Western New York developer sues another, the motive — no matter the arguments presented in court, however they may be presented in the media as a pursuit of the public good — is of course money. It has to be: To have standing to sue, a petitioner must demonstrate a financial or quality-of-life interest to the court. So, when Rocco Termini sued Ciminelli Development in mid-June to stop Ciminelli’s latest plan for 201 Ellicott Street, naturally Termini had a financial motive:[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Jun 27

2019

Lawsuit seeks to stop downtown project

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Developer Rocco Termini and several businesses that operate out of his company’s downtown properties filed a lawsuit last week against the City of Buffalo and Ciminelli Real Estate Corp., seeking to hit pause on Ciminelli’s most-recent plan to develop a city-owned surface parking lot at 201 Ellicott Street. The Ciminelli plan entails 200 apartments and condominiums, plus a grocery store and food distribution terminal run by Braymiller Market, based in Hamburg. Braymiller is also named in the lawsuit.  The 2.5-acre site is across Ellicott Street from Termini’s Hotel @ The Lafayette. The downtown public library is to its north; the[...]

Posted 5 years ago

May 16

2019

Another Buffalo Billion project is struggling

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There were supposed to be almost 500 jobs created by now. Instead, there are just 51. An ambitious economic development project at the University of Buffalo, intended to bolster the region’s biotech sector and create high-tech jobs, is years behind its original schedule and coming up short on its hiring goals. The Buffalo Institute for Genomics and Data Analytics, funded with almost $50 million in state grants as part of the Buffalo Billion initiative, was launched five years ago and remains a work in progress. The project was originally supposed to create 490 jobs by January of this year. That[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Apr 25

2019

Tesla reports big losses

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Tesla reported first quarter losses Wednesday of $702 million. What’s worse, Tesla reported a big drop in its solar business. Solar panel installations dropped by more than one third during the first quarter. Installations are down five-fold since peaking in 2015. Its market share has tumbled in recent years from 33 to 9 percent. All this is bad news for Tesla’s plant in South Buffalo, which was built and equipped at taxpayer expense. A slump in solar sales lessens demand for the products produced at the plant. That, in turn, could make it tough for Tesla to create all the jobs[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Mar 15

2019

Key witness in ‘Billion case avoids prison

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 Kevin Schuler, the prosecution’s star witness in the Buffalo Billion corruption trial, escaped a prison term at his sentencing in Manhattan on Friday. Schuler was an executive at LPCiminelli who detailed the bid rigging scheme that resulted in the company landing the contract to build the SolarCity plant in South Buffalo. His testimony was key to convicting his former boss, Louis Ciminelli, and a top state economic development official, Alain Kaloyeros, on corruption charges. Both were sentenced to prison, although they remain free pending appeals. Schuler is required to perform 400 hours of community service over the next two[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Dec 11

2018

Buffalo Billion criminals get off easy

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Hold up a gas station and you’re looking at a minimum of five years in prison. Get napped with an ounce of crack and the mandatory minimum is five to ten years. Engage in bid rigging, and in the process violate the public’s trust and cost taxpayers potentially million of dollars? If you’re Louis Ciminelli, the sentence is 2 years and 4 months. For Alain Kaloyeros, 3½ years. Minus time off for good behavior, of course. And don’t worry about starting your sentence anytime soon. You’re a free man until you and your high-priced lawyers have exhausted the appeals process.[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Nov 29

2018

43North winner delinquent on loan

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Four years ago, local manufacturing startup ASi was riding high, the first ever $1 million prize winner of the state-funded 43North business plan competition. Now, the company is in financial trouble. It’s not currently operational, has just one employee – the founder and CEO – and recently defaulted on a $250,000 loan from the Erie County Industrial Development Agency. In exchange for the prize money, 43North takes a 5 percent stake in each winning company. 43North officials say the struggles of one company, even a winner of the $1 million – the largest prize offered – don’t reflect the track record of the[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Nov 13

2018

Western New York’s version of the Amazon deal

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 The agreement that will place a new headquarters for Amazon in Queens is the biggest economic development deal for a private company New York has ever seen, with a subsidy package that could add up to more than $2 billion. The full value of the incentives Amazon stands to receive is unclear, but it might still work out to be a better deal for taxpayers than Western New York’s own marquee economic development project, the Tesla factory in South Buffalo. On top of a $500 million state grant, and more than $1.5 billion in performance-based tax credits, Amazon will[...]

Posted 5 years ago
Investigative Post

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