an 14, 2014, 2:50pm EST
Exclusive: Tobin First Prize plant under contract for possible casino
Capital Gaming LLC, a Rochester, NY firm has signed a contract to buy the former Tobin First Prize Center meat packing plant in Albany, NY. The buyer is interested in building a casino on the sprawling site located near near Exit 5 of Interstate 90.
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Donna Abbott-Vlahos
Capital Gaming LLC, a Rochester, NY firm has signed a contract to buy the former Tobin First Prize Center meat packing plant in Albany, NY. The buyer is interested in building a casino on the sprawling site located near near Exit 5 of Interstate 90.
A western New York firm interested in redeveloping a former Albany, NY meat packing plant into a casino has signed a contract to buy the sprawling, run-down site.
Capital Gaming LLC signed the contract Dec. 31 with the owners of the former Tobin First Prize Center, an industrial relic near Exit 5 of Interstate 90, local attorney Robert E. Ganz told me.
Ganz is one of the partners at Exchange Street Associates, an investment group that has been trying to sell or redevelop the property since taking control in 1988 under a lease-purchase agreement with the Albany County Industrial Development Agency.
"We've held this property for 25 years," Ganz said. "We would like to finally dispose of it. An offer has been made and a contract signed. While there are contingencies, we hope this will finally be the contract that will be consummated."
The signed contract indicates a serious level of interest at a time when casino developers have been looking at various sites in the region. The Capital Region is one of three areas upstate where at least one permit will be awarded. The others are in the Southern Tier and Catskills/Hudson Valley. No region can have more than two permits.
Ganz declined to reveal much about Capital Gaming, except that it's based in Rochester.
The Times Union first reported last month that representatives of Flaum Management Co. Inc. in Rochester had expressed interest in the Tobin First Prize site.
Capital Gaming LLC's incorporation papers were registered on Nov. 7, 2013, at the same Rochester address as Flaum Management Co. Inc., according to the New York Department of State website.
Flaum Management is focused on redeveloping "underperforming" commercial real estate and owns or manages nearly 7 million square feet in the Northeast, according to its website.
Its portfolio includes outdoor shopping centers, office buildings, manufacturing plants and vacant land, mostly in western New York. The only one in the Capital Region is Queensbury Plaza, a 165,000-square-foot shopping center anchored by Save-A-Lot outside Glens Falls.
Chief Executive Officer David Flaum couldn't be reached for comment.
Flaum founded the company in 1985 and is active in civic and community groups in Rochester. He has served on building facilities committees at University of Rochester and Syracuse University, and has been recognized by government officials in Monroe County for his leadership, according to his official bio.
Whether Flaum can succeed redeveloping former Tobin First Prize Center remains to be seen. Several ideas have been floated over the past two decades, including building a shopping center there, but none came to fruition. The plant straddles the municipal border of the city of Albany and town of Colonie.
Ganz knows as well as anyone not to get too far ahead of the process.
"Having been involved numerous times where this was under contract and not had a closing, I don't get too convinced of anything," he said.
Ganz and the other partners began hearing from casino developers after New York voters in November approved a referendum allowing casino gambling on non-Indian land in selected areas upstate.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said decisions will be made this fall.
In Saratoga County, the owners of Saratoga Casino and Raceway, commonly known as the racino, intend to seek a state permit to offer live table games such as blackjack and poker.
About a dozen racino employees and their families were at a press conference today in Saratoga Springs supporting an expansion there. |
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