Glens Falls IDA approves tax relief for Patton Property Management’s South Street renovation

Glens Falls — The Glens Falls Industrial Development Agency on May 15 voted to offer Patton Property Management LLC a tax incentive package — including a PILOT agreement, a sales tax exemption on future material purchases and a mortgage-recording-tax exemption — for a proposed conversion of the building at 45-56 South Street into residential and commercial space.

The action, taken after a public hearing, applies to a project the developer said will create roughly 20 apartments plus multiple commercial units including a restaurant in the building identified on the city tax map as parcel 309.28-2-6. Agency staff recorded a proposed base assessed value for the PILOT of $577,500 and described the draft PILOT schedule as 100% exemption on assessable improvements for the first five years and 50% exemption for the subsequent five years of a 10-year term.

The incentives matter because the project is tied to the city’s downtown revitalization effort and because the developer told the agency the building requires more extensive work and investment than originally expected. Chris Patton, the project’s CEO and lead developer, described substantial structural repairs, including roof replacement, rebuilding of floor systems and replacement of beams and columns, and said those scopes contributed to schedule delays. He told the board the site also needs new electrical service capacity and that the developer is working with National Grid and the city on power, water and sewer connections.

Agency staff told the board they had reviewed the developer’s full application, development budget and design documents and would apply the sales-tax exemption only to materials purchased after the exemption is granted. A staff member told the board, “We have your full application. We have your development budget, and we have gone carefully through those numbers, and everyone here has a copy of that.”

Parking and related site work were discussed during the hearing. The developer said parking for residents will be provided in a separate neighboring project on the former Rite Aid site: an engineered foundation and structure being built to provide 56 parking spaces on the first floor, with residential units above. The developer said the intent is to reserve at least one permanent parking space per apartment and to provide gated overflow parking for commercial tenants.

Board members and staff also discussed PILOT term length and the project’s cash flow. Staff said they examined operating expenses, net operating income and total debt service and recommended a term that addresses low cash flow in the early years. The agency’s governance committee chair, Mary Gooden, was asked to review policy precedents from other local IDAs before the board pursues broader changes to pilot eligibility for residential-heavy conversions.

The board approved the resolution offering the PILOT and the tax exemptions by voice vote; no nays or abstentions were recorded on the public record. The chair noted the hearing record will remain open briefly before agency staff finalize and circulate the documents.

Next steps recorded at the meeting: agency staff will finalize the PILOT and exemption documents, notify the public of the board’s action and execute the applicable agreements. The developer will finalize purchases eligible for sales-tax exemption and the agency will determine the final exempt amount once purchases are completed.

The public hearing and vote were held during the Glens Falls IDA meeting on May 15, 2025; the board kept the hearing open briefly before closing and proceeding with the regular agenda.