Sweet Spot Development has closed on the former Camillus Cutlery property, the Skaneateles-based company announced Tuesday.
The company purchased the building at auction in the fall for $210,000, and began leasing in March. The building on Main Street in the village of Camillus was home to the knife plant for 100 years before it closed in 2007.
Sweet Spot plans to turn the building into a mix-used facility called Camillus Mills, with medical offices on the first floor and high-end apartments on the second floor.
The initial phase of the project will be to rehabilitate the long-vacant 45,000-square-foot building. The former manufacturing site, located along Nine Mile Creek, is designated as environmentally challenged, and Sweet Spot plans to remediate the entire property, as well as construct additional buildings on the site in later phases.
The company is using $2.3 million in Restore New York grant funds, awarded in 2009, to cover the demolition and renovation of the Camillus Cutlery property.
The company announced that agreements with two significant medical practices have been made, but did not release the names of those practices. Roy Brunner, operations officer for Sweet Spot Companies, is seeking additional practices to move into the space.
“We are very pleased with the initial groups which have committed to Camillus Mills, and are turning our attention to securing medical groups to help anchor the site,” Brunner said in a news release. “We are launching full-blown lease efforts within the next week to fill about 30,000 square feet of space remaining in phase one. We are positioned to provide competitive lease terms, a great location, and possible ownership opportunities to tenants. Our location in the western suburbs is ideal in today’s changing medical landscape and our tenants will benefit from being directly on Main Street in a village positioned for resurgence.”
According to Sweet Spot Development, the fully occupied medical center will bring close to 90 jobs to Camillus. Developer Tom Blair’s goal is to begin moving in tenants by the summer or fall of 2013.
