Business Facilities - May 2008 - (Page 37)

the region will gain more from the opportunities that private redevelopment provides than it could by holding onto its military installation,” he says. “Sound planning and smart growth principles, managing regional expectations and leveraging physical assets for value-added growth are critical to any successful base redevelopment strategy,” DiMeo adds. Leveraging of existing physical assets to support the redevelopment included the upgrade and extension of the Griffiss Rail Line, which enabled East Coast Olive Oil to open a $16 million production and distribution facility that employs 153 people. GLDC also has succeeded in keeping at Griffiss specialized military facilities that originally were recommended for relocation by the federal Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC), including the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) center. In 2005, GLDC persuaded BRAC to upgrade the DFAS facility from 380 to at least 1,000 workers, an employment level it will exceed later this year. Meanwhile, the Northeast Air Defense Sector is about to open a new $9.6 million headquarters adjacent to its operations center at Griffiss. GLDC also was successful in retaining the Air Force Research Laboratory, the region’s center for information technology. The first step in the base redevelopment, according to Mark Reynolds, GLDC senior vice president of planning and development, was to create a comprehensive plan to leverage Griffiss’ assets, while at the same time avoiding a negative impact on an already depleted regional economy. “For many closed military installations, housing is a quick score,” says Empire Aero Center’s aircraft maintenance and repair facility at Griffiss Business and Technology Park now employs more than 500 people. Reynolds. “In Rome, the housing market, which was never extremely strong, had suffered significantly from the closure, and the decision to demolish a majority of the base housing came as a direct result of that reality.” Asset valuation and expectation management went hand in hand as the GLDC sought buy-in for its plan from regional players, Reynolds says. “Some people felt that redevelopment should mirror a 19th century land-grab, where everyone got to run out on the airfield and plant a flag for a dollar,” he explains. “Others wanted to lock the gate and let the buildings and grounds slowly deteriorate into a kind of abandoned military wasteland. There was a regional learning curve when it came to understanding what we actually had— that Griffiss was not a burden, but a tremendous asset capable of transforming the community.” Federal law required the Air Force to file an environmental impact statement built around the community reuse plan, and to provide caretaker funding for ongoing facility maintenance. This is a key difference between military closure and private sector closure or bankruptcy, Reynolds notes. “Frequently, when large manufacturing facilities are shuttered, the community is left with an obsolete facility and an unfunded environmental legacy that may take years to sort through. With Griffiss, the Air Force was a responsible partner throughout the process,” Reynolds says. More than a decade later, the Air Force continues to be an important partner in the redevelopment at Griffiss and is assisting GLDC in getting substantial tracks of land removed by the end of this year from the National Priorities List, a Brownfields listing issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which mandates additional investigation of known or threatened releases of hazardous contaminants. STICKING TO CORE PRINCIPLES OF REDEVELOPMENT GLDC took care to redevelop the land at Griffiss without straying significantly from the core principles that were generated during the planning process. BUSINESS FACILITIES 37 PHOTO CREDIT: ROB DUCHOW

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Business Facilities - May 2008 Contents First Word Snapshots The UK's Most Lucrative Locations, Pound for Pound Economic Development in a Flash Corporate Moves: Massachusetts Florida: A Ripe Climate for Innovation Innovating Big in Rhode IIsland Retail Set to Ride Out a Recession Corporate Moves: New Jersey South Carolina: A Sweet Spot in the Southeast Endless Opportunities in North Carolina Economic Awakening in the Mohawk Valley Metro Spotlight: Alexandria, LA Where Call Centers Call Home Texas Receives First Business Facilities State of the Year Award Advertiser Index Inside Livexchange

Business Facilities - May 2008

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