LOCKPORT – The bank appraisal of the building where Trek Inc. is to place its new plant finally arrived last week.
R. Charles Bell, Lockport planning and development director, declined to disclose the figure, but he said it’s high enough to support the mortgage the city needs to pay for the interior renovation of Building 4 at Harrison Place.
The lack of appraisal held up the deal for several weeks.
That’s where Trek, a Medina electronic instrument maker, plans to relocate, bringing 72 jobs to downtown Lockport. Trek plans to create another 24 jobs in the next couple of years.
Harrison Place, the onetime Harrison Radiator complex at Walnut and Washburn streets, is owned by 210 Walnut LLC, an officially private entity that is completely controlled by the city. Mayor Michael W. Tucker said 210 Walnut will have to borrow about $4 million to pay for the work.
The amount of the mortgage, in turn, was to drive the amount Trek is to pay for its 20-year lease. The figure had to be set high enough to cover the mortgage payments.
Five Star Bank, the city’s chosen lender, needed an independent appraisal of the 96,000-square-foot, three-story Building 4, but the appraiser it chose took weeks longer than the city expected.
Meanwhile, city Chief Building Inspector Jason Dool said a tour of Harrison Place last week confirmed some fire code violations that he expects will soon be addressed.
A Buffalo News reader who attended a recent auction at Faery Auctions in Building 2 called the newspaper to complain of a number of alleged code violations
Dool said that, as the News reader said, there are some exit signs with blown-out light bulbs; fire extinguishers whose contents haven’t been inspected in more than a year; and a need to inspect the sprinkler system.
He said the problems will be attended to soon. However, he found no evidence to back the reader’s assertion that fire doors were locked during the auction, which the reader said drew about 200 people to the plant, built in 1914.
email: tprohaska@buffnews.com
R. Charles Bell, Lockport planning and development director, declined to disclose the figure, but he said it’s high enough to support the mortgage the city needs to pay for the interior renovation of Building 4 at Harrison Place.
The lack of appraisal held up the deal for several weeks.
That’s where Trek, a Medina electronic instrument maker, plans to relocate, bringing 72 jobs to downtown Lockport. Trek plans to create another 24 jobs in the next couple of years.
Harrison Place, the onetime Harrison Radiator complex at Walnut and Washburn streets, is owned by 210 Walnut LLC, an officially private entity that is completely controlled by the city. Mayor Michael W. Tucker said 210 Walnut will have to borrow about $4 million to pay for the work.
The amount of the mortgage, in turn, was to drive the amount Trek is to pay for its 20-year lease. The figure had to be set high enough to cover the mortgage payments.
Five Star Bank, the city’s chosen lender, needed an independent appraisal of the 96,000-square-foot, three-story Building 4, but the appraiser it chose took weeks longer than the city expected.
Meanwhile, city Chief Building Inspector Jason Dool said a tour of Harrison Place last week confirmed some fire code violations that he expects will soon be addressed.
A Buffalo News reader who attended a recent auction at Faery Auctions in Building 2 called the newspaper to complain of a number of alleged code violations
Dool said that, as the News reader said, there are some exit signs with blown-out light bulbs; fire extinguishers whose contents haven’t been inspected in more than a year; and a need to inspect the sprinkler system.
He said the problems will be attended to soon. However, he found no evidence to back the reader’s assertion that fire doors were locked during the auction, which the reader said drew about 200 people to the plant, built in 1914.
email: tprohaska@buffnews.com