Proposed development project on Route 20 seeks grocery store chain, additional commercial businesses and senior apartment housing
A major redevelopment project has been proposed for the eastern edge of the village of Cazenovia, with the cornerstone of the plan to be the construction of a 17,000-square-foot Aldi grocery store. The Aldi aspect is the most immediate part of the plan, but the total tentative project on land currently occupied by the defunct diner and motel on Route 20 is slated to include the construction of a potential pharmacy, a potential credit union and a five-acre section of anticipated senior apartment housing.
If approved and brought to fruition, the redevelopment project is expected to generate up to $8 million in new investment in the village, bring in jobs, revenue and new residents, and grow the overall village tax base by millions of dollars.
The proposal is only in the beginning stages of municipal review and approval, however, with the next step to be annexation of the proposed land from the town into the village, a joint public hearing for which is scheduled for May 9.
“The area in question, going back to the 1991 Comprehensive Plan, has always been targeted for annexation — is listed in the 2008 Plan as such — and we amended the 2013 Comprehensive Plan to specifically identify this land for annexation into the village,” said Mayor Kurt Wheeler. “Not only did we identify it for annexation, but the zoning and design guidelines pursuant to the Comprehensive Plan have this zoned specifically for partial development, and even have illustrative designs of how it could be built out. This proposal is largely consistent with those plans.”
The cornerstone project to construct an Aldi grocery store at the location of the currently defunct Bella’s Café at 2364 Route 20 was initially presented to the Cazenovia Village Planning Board during its April 11 meeting by Sphere Development LLC, the developer working with Aldi, and the landowner, New Venture Assets, owned by Cazenovian Dave Muraco.
Sphere partners Greg Widrick and Kurt Wendler said current plan is for a 17,000-square-foot Aldi grocery store, with approximately 80 parking spots. The road to Aldi will connect to the Village Edge South development, as will the sidewalks being built as part of the store project.
“This is a great development for Caz,” said Wendler. “You need a spark to start the development [on Route 20], and for this development, Aldi is that spark.”
Aldi was founded in 1961 in Germany by the Albrecht family, and now, in addition to stores across Europe, Aldi has more than 1,500 stores across 33 states in the U.S., employs more than 22,000 people and has been steadily growing since opening its first U.S. store in Iowa in 1976, according to company information. Over the past decade, the company has nearly doubled in size and, by 2018, Aldi plans to bring its total number of U.S. stores to nearly 2,000 — opening their doors to 650 new locations.
Aldi’s stores are based on the premise of everyday low prices and a quick-and-easy shopping experience. The stores typically have only four to five aisles and offer the most commonly purchased grocery store items, with more than 90 percent of the groceries offered under Aldi exclusive brands, according to company information.
Widrick and Wendler said they have been talking with Aldi for years about various development projects and always felt Cazenovia would be a good fit for the grocery chain.
“I live in Cazenovia; it’s my community too, and we know the challenges of living here without adequate resources,” Widrick said. “Definitely, having an alternate grocery store is one of them.”
Widrick and Wendler said the proposal is strictly in line with the village zoning and design guidelines in the Comprehensive Plan and the Village Edge South development and, as part of the current municipal review and approval process for the project, they are also receiving input not only with planning board members but also from representatives of the village historic preservation committee, the Cazenovia Advisory Conservation Commission and the Cazenovia Preservation Foundation.
Aldi officials likewise have done extensive market studies and research to determine if a store in Cazenovia is viable. “This was not a hasty decision by Aldi,” Widrick said.
“They certainly don’t get to this point without being sure that something is viable for success,” Wendler added.
While the construction of the Aldi is subject to the village planning board review and approval process, the German company hopes to have the store open by the end of this year, Widrick said.
Currently, the nearest Aldi stores to Cazenovia are in DeWitt and Canastota.
Development beyond Aldi
But the Aldi is only one part of the overall redevelopment proposal. Landowner Dave Muraco is proposing his own redevelopment around the Aldi to include, tentatively, a 14,000-square-foot stand-alone Rite Aid with a drive-thru on one side of the grocery store, a 6,000-square-foot credit union on the other side, and market rental apartments for people ages 55 and older on five acres at the back of the property, he said.
Muraco said that while the Rite Aid plan is currently only tentative, if it occurs it would mean the Rite Aid store currently in the Town and Country Plaza across Route 20 — a plaza which Muraco owns — would move across the street to the new development. He said he already has other businesses interested in taking over the Rite Aid space to be vacated.
The Rite Aid could also eventually become a Walgreens, since Walgreens announced its acquisition of the rival pharmacy store last October. Upon completion of the merger, Rite Aid will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Walgreens, and is expected to initially operate under its existing brand name, although future integration of the two companies could occur, according to a Walgreens press release.
The tentative pharmacy, credit union and apartment plans, if approved, will not occur until 2017, Muraco said.
“Right now, we’re just proceeding [through the municipal process] like we’re supposed to,” Muraco said. “We’re very up-front with the project and putting everything on the table. I think the community will be very excited to have an Aldi here.”
Like Widrick and Wendler, Muraco said his development plans are following the Comprehensive Plan and VES design guidelines “like the Bible,” and he is receiving input from the HPC, CACC and CPF which he is taking “very seriously.”
“We have some of the best architects working on this,” Muraco said. “I think it will really be the signature project for Cazenovia and the community … It will look like something like no place else in Cazenovia.”
The economic impact of the proposed development on Cazenovia could be hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax revenue each year, Muraco said, based on general estimates. Also, both his development plans and the Aldi project are receiving no state tax breaks — unlike the Empire Farmstead Brewery and the incoming Hampton Inn hotel, both of which get 10 years free of income, business, corporate, sales and property taxes through the Start-Up NY program.
Also, if the land for the projects is successfully annexed into the village, as is proposed, the tax revenue will benefit the village.
“This will be all new for the village because of annexation,” said Wheeler. “The overall taxable value of the village will grow by several million dollars — we could see at least four-to-five years of what is typically our average growth in just one year [because of this project]. This is a significant amount of tax base growth.”
Wheeler said the projects will bring in jobs, sales tax revenue and the commercial enterprises will service not only Cazenovia but this entire portion of Madison County.
While the talk around the village and on social media contains much concern that the Aldi project now, and the other development eventually, is unstoppable and impervious to resident input, the developers and village officials all disagree.
“This is a process; it takes time,” Muraco said. “We don’t think this project is a done deal in any way. We’re following the Comprehensive Plan … [and] we’re taking input very seriously.”
“This is by no means a done deal,” Widrick said of the Aldi proposal. “We’re in the process of getting lots of municipal and organizational feedback … And the feedback I have received [from the community] has been nothing but positive and extremely excited about the tenant coming.”
The town and village boards have scheduled a joint public hearing for 6 p.m. Monday, May 9, in the second floor auditorium of the village municipal building to review a petition for annexation into the village of the land for the proposed project. The village planning board will then hold its regular monthly meeting at 7 p.m. in the same room, during which the Route 20 development proposals will be discussed.
Anyone interested in reading the Village of Cazenovia Comprehensive Plan and VES Design Guidelines can find them on the village website at villageofcazenovia.com.
