New Square is seeking to build a $6 million, two-story complex that would include a supermarket, poultry packaging facility and offices in the heart of the village.
The Heritage Park Industrial Complex would be built at 20 Mezritch Road with more than $1.6 million in Empire State Development funding under the state’s Restore New York Communities program. It would also receive $600,000 from Empire State Development’s Regional Council Capital Fund and a $750,000 community development block grant, according to the proposal.
Empire State Development spokesman Jonah Bruno said the agency’s board voted Aug. 18 to approve the application, which still needs approval from the state Public Authorities Control Board.
Plans call for a 30,000-square-foot building consisting of a 15,000-square-foot supermarket on the ground floor, and 15,000 square feet of office space on the second floor.
Unlike an earlier proposal that ran into intense community opposition, this facility would not be involved with slaughtering chickens, according to the plan.
The property is owned by the Community Improvement Council, a not-for-profit that has built a Head Start facility and senior housing in the village.
Hatzlacha Supermarkets would oversee the supermarket, packaging and distribution portion of the operation; office space on the second floor would be leased by Chesed/Share of New Square, a charitable organization.
“This project will restore and revitalize a vacant parcel and stimulate economic development in the community,” Bruno stated. “It will also create more than 100 new, permanent jobs and provide area residents a new source of fresh food, within walking distance of their homes.”
It would be the first time village residents had a full-service supermarket instead of a collection of smaller specialty stores.
The village of New Square’s review found the complex would not have a significant impact on the environment, a determination with which Empire State Development staff concurred.
A project plan dated Aug. 18 states the complex would be completed by December 2018.
