Restore NY Grant for the Dunn

At the last Common Council Economic Development Committee on August 18, Bill Roehr, of TWG Consulting, mentioned the plan to apply for a Restore NY grant for the Dunn building. In the context of that discussion, the possibility of being awarded $500,000 was talked about as the City's "financial offer" to help attract developers who wanted to take on the project. Last night, at a public forum about the Dunn building held by the Waterfront Advisory Steering Committee, the potential of a $500,000 Restore NY grant started to be viewed in a different light.

It  began when Timothy O'Connor, who argued that moving forward with plans to develop the Dunn building while the LWRP (Local Waterfront Revitalization Program) was still being assessed and revised was "putting the cart before the horse," cited the Restore NY grant as something that should be pursued and supported. "We should be all-in on this," he declared, going on to suggest that the meeting should be about the Restore NY application rather than the request for proposals. O'Connor's enthusiasm suggested that he saw the grant as a means for the City to stabilize the building and halt its deterioration, thus eliminating the building's precarious condition as a reason to pursue immediately development plans for the building.

The Restore NY grant is expected to be a topic of discussion at tomorrow night's Economic Development Committee meeting. That meeting begins at 6 p.m. There will also be a public hearing about the application on Tuesday, September 20, at 6:15 p.m., prior to just before the Common Council meeting on that evening.
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