Two houses, one commercial space to go back on village tax rolls
By Jason Emerson
Cazenovia College is creating a new Campus Center in Watts Hall on Nickerson Street, combining multiple separate college offices into one space. The project has led the college to divest itself of three village properties — two single family houses on Nickerson Street and one Albany Street commercial building — which have been purchased by a local businessman.
The two houses will be renovated and resold, while the commercial site will become the new office for Professional Teleconcepts, LLC (Pro-Tel) — putting all three buildings back on the village tax rolls after having been exempt for years as part of an educational organization.
“Repurposing Watts and combining these services into one convenient Campus Center is exciting for the college and returning the three properties to the village tax rolls is a win-win for everybody,” said Cazenovia College President Ron Chesbrough.
Eric Burrell, president and CEO of Pro-Tel and co-owner of Pro-Tel Properties, which also owns 51 Albany St., agreed. “This transaction is a win for the college, exiting out of buildings that they don’t need now; it’s a win for the village of Caz, putting three properties back on the tax rolls that have been off for years, adding two affordable, nice single-family homes to the village and adding more jobs to the community and more daily users of the historic business district,” he said.
Cazenovia College’s Campus Center will provide “a convenient, one-stop location for a variety of services, including faculty offices, Student Life, the Center for Teaching and Learning, the Business Office and Human Resources,” according to college information. The second-floor dorm rooms in Watts Hall have been converted to offices, and faculty previously located in the houses at 7 and 13 Nickerson Street already have moved in, followed recently by Student Life on the first floor.
Over spring break, the Center for Teaching and Learning will relocate to the first floor, and then by the end of June the business office and human resources will also be relocated to the Campus Center, according to college information.
The Campus Center at Watts Hall is expected to be completed over the summer with an opening event planned for the start of the 2018-19 academic year. The third floor will remain available for student housing, consistent with the mixed-use and student-centered focus of the building.
The college’s Information and Communications Technology department, which is currently located at 95 Albany St., is also moving back into the main college campus footprint in June.
The college sold its two Nickerson Street houses and its Albany Street commercial building to Burrell, who closed on the deal in mid-March, he said. There will be “complete restoration” of both houses with an “open concept” and everything brand new, he said.
“I think there’s a lot of interest in this type of single-family house in the village,” Burrell said. “I’m really excited; they’re going to be gorgeous.”
Burrell will also renovate the space at 95 Albany St. and then relocate his business, Pro-Tel, LLC., from its current location at 4 Chenango St., which he is selling.
Pro-Tel provides engineering, furnishing and installation services as well as staffing solutions to the telecommunications market. The business has increased to the point where they have outgrown the space at 4 Chenango St., Burrell said.
Pro-Tel’s senior management and engineering departments have expanded in Cazenovia and they have moved the purchasing and accounting departments to Caz from another location, he said. Relocating to Albany Street will accommodate the business’s planned future growth.
“We’ve hired some new people and I expect to hire more,” Burrell said. “I’m really happy my business is growing and I found an awesome space on the main street, and I and my employees can enjoy the village more than we do.”
Burrell said his building at 4 Chenango St. is under contract with a professional in the medical field, so the building will be filled with medical providers, as it was before he purchased it.
