Why is IBM Tech City Being Ignored by CH2MHill?

Tech City site favorable, says HVEDC consultant Jim Gordon | Aug-14-09, 12:19 PM

The quest for industries that would turn a dot on the map into a hive of 21st-century business activity has riveted the Hudson Valley with its visions of spiffy Seattle-like office parks filled with high-paid breadwinners. Where would that dot be?

The Hudson Valley Economic Development Corp. (HVEDC) is pushing the Winston Farm in Saugerties as the premier site to develop shovel-ready capacity in the Hudson Valley. There’s acreage and easy Thruway access. But the HVEDC’s own consultant is on record saying Tech City in Kingston – a former IBM campus – has a “favorable” rating while Winston Farm attains only a “neutral” rating.

The results do not necessarily pit the two Ulster County sites as antagonists, according to the HVEDC, which sees room for both to thrive. The two-is-better-than-one philosophy is echoed by the Ulster County development chief. Tech City sees it differently, saying it is clearly the right choice.

As the town of Saugerties prepares to host an Aug. 20 public meeting regarding development of the Winston Farm as a shovel-ready site that was selected by HVEDC after a closed review of potential sites in a nine-county area, a report prepared by consultants for the HVEDC shows that Tech City in Kingston scores higher in all the key metrics used by the consultant for creating a shovel-ready site in the region.

HVEDC officials say the report does not contain all the information they used in deciding which site to highlight as the best prospect. They say they will make more information available soon.
HVEDC refused requests to make the report public, but the 55-page document was obtained by HV Biz from state Assemblyman Kevin Cahill.