Metroplex moves on cleanup project, awards grants

PHOTOGRAPHER: Bethany Bump

Metroplex approved environmental cleanup work in Scotia, announced grant money for an apartment project in the Stockade and approved a facade grant for a downtown Schenectady business at its monthly board meeting Wednesday evening.

The Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority awarded a contract for the cleanup of a former McDonald’s site in Scotia to Land Remediation Inc. of Averill Park. The environmental services company put in a bid of $178,950 for the project at 25 Mohawk Ave.

Metroplex announced in March that it had purchased the property for $1 and would clean it up before selling it to Mazzone Management Group, which plans to use it as an overflow parking lot for Glen Sanders Mansion events and eventually will build a retail bakery operation there.

The cleanup will begin later this month and wrap up in about 20 days.

The board also gave final approval for a mixed-use project at the former Spencer Business School, located at 200 State St. The vacant building will be transformed into retail space on the first floor and 11 loft-style apartment units on the second floor. As part of the project, the old WGY Coin & Stamp building at 142 State St. will be demolished to make way for a landscaped parking area. Metroplex will provide $185,000 toward the $1.36 million project, led by developer Chris Maddalone and his partner Charles Rosenstein.

The board also approved a $39,000 facade grant for Integra Development, a holding company that does business as Integra Service Group. The electrical installation company has locations nationwide, and has decided to renovate its facade at 318 Broadway in Schenectady, where it occupies the second floor. Integra owns the building, and will invest more than $83,000 on renovations and lease out office space on the ground floor.

Integra has powered new equipment like satellite dish systems, voice and data cabling, standby generators, and exit and emergency lighting for businesses like Panera Bread, Rite Aid, Pizza Hut, RadioShack, J.C. Penney and Pottery Barn, among others.

“This is a highly visible building,” said Metroplex Chairman Ray Gillen in a news release. “We are pleased to work with Integra, an exciting tech company based in Schenectady, to improve the appearance of a major building on the Broadway entrance to downtown.”