Downtown Glens Falls was selected as one of five winners, statewide, of a $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative in the Capital Region from the state.
The Downtown Revitalization Initiative marks a comprehensive plan to transform local neighborhoods into vibrant communities where the next generation of New Yorkers will want to live and work.
Glens Falls was selected as part of a competitive process by the state’s Capital Region Regional Economic Development Council. The $10 million in state funding will go toward revitalizing the local neighborhood and generating new opportunities for long-term growth and prosperity, state officials said.
“With this $10 million investment, Glens Falls has an important opportunity to transform its downtown into an economic and cultural center that attracts residents and visitors alike,” state Assemblyman Dan Stec said. “This initiative will help us invest in critical infrastructure and redevelopment projects that will create jobs, drive economic activity and keep our region moving forward.”
“With thriving cultural centers and an exciting economic climate, downtown Glens Falls is emerging as a destination for businesses and visitors alike. This investment will allow us to build upon our existing strengths and transform downtown Glens Falls into a center of vitality and opportunity,” said Mayor Jack Diamond.
The award will include up to $300,000 in planning funds for private sector experts to work with a local planning committee to draft a Strategic Investment Plan that will identify specific economic development, transportation, and housing and community projects. The grant is part of a $100 million effort to improve the urban vitality of city centers across the state.
Plans will be completed by early 2017.
The money will be used to revitalize Glens Falls’ compact Arts, Wellness, and Entertainment District. It boasts small businesses, mixed-use spaces, major employers, parks, health care providers, and arts and cultural organizations.
The district encompasses South Street, from Hudson Avenue to Glen Street; Glen Street, from South Street to Park Street; Park Street; Hudson Avenue, from Elm Street to South Street; Elm Street, from Hudson Avenue to the incubator building; and School Street, from Hudson Avenue to South Street.
Officials said the walkable neighborhood has experienced recent growth in both employment and population. Glens Falls will build on this growth and momentum with a focus on rehabilitation of vacant and deteriorating buildings for residential and retail use, enhancing access to arts and cultural opportunities, and improving connections for pedestrians and cyclists.
Each Regional Council weighed seven criteria in selecting their nominee:
1. The targeted neighborhood should be compact and well-defined.
2. The downtown, or its center, should be of a size sufficient to support an active, year-round downtown and should have a sizeable existing or increasing population within easy reach for whom this would be the primary downtown.
3. The downtown should capitalize on prior, and catalyze future, private and public investment in the neighborhood and surrounding areas.
4. There should be recent or impending job growth within, or in close proximity to the downtown that can attract workers to the downtown, support redevelopment and make growth sustainable.
5. The downtown must contain properties or characteristics that contribute or that could contribute, if enhanced, to the attractiveness and livability of the downtown, including the presence of developable mixed-use spaces, housing at different levels of affordability and type, commercial and retail main street businesses, including healthy and affordable food markets, walkability and bikeability, and public parks and gathering spaces.
6. The downtown should contain or articulate how it can create policies that enhance quality of life, including the use of local land banks, modern zoning codes, complete streets plans, or transit-oriented development; and
7. Local and community support must exist for revitalization of the downtown. There must be a commitment among local leaders and stakeholders to build and implement a strategic investment plan for the downtown.
State Sen. Betty Little said investing in the downtown region “is necessary to continue the growth and prosperity our community has seen in recent years.”
Kevin Geraghty , chairman of the Warren County Board of Supervisors, said the downtown area “is a vibrant, emerging city center, and this investment will equip the city with the resources it needs to fulfill its remarkable potential.”