Medley Centre, the former mall complex that developer Scott Congel wanted to turn into a combination of retail, hotels and restaurants, has officially lost its certification as being in an Empire Zone.
That's according to Assemblyman Joe Morelle, the Assembly Majority Leader who is from Irondequoit. He says the owner of the property, Bersin Properties, has been decertified from that Empire Zone program which provides state-subsidized tax credits.
Morelle says at is urging, Empire State Development last year investigated the Empire Zone designation for Medley. He says Bersin Properties' eligibility for that tax break was contingent on the creation fo two full time jobs.
Morelle says to date, Bersin Properties still owes nearly $4 million to Monroe County, the Town of Irondequoit and the East Irondequoit School District in taxes.
Congel later issued this response:
“It is truly unfortunate that some people fail to appreciate that we have effectively been blocked from proceeding with the project. We continue to take steps to remove the impediment we are confronting with Nomura Financial and the lien the bank holds. We continue to believe in the project and the benefits to the community"
Bersin Properties has previously blamed delays in the Medley Centre project on the Nomura Group, claiming the bank didn’t provide funding as promised.
