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IDA chair briefs supervisors on Canal Side site, airport-adjacent parcels and project pipeline
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Summary
Juan Gonzalez of the IDA summarized the authority's board composition, active projects (36 listed), and priorities for Washington County including three parcels near the Queensbury Airport, a potential Rotary Club wildlife-education project, and Canal Side—where the IDA paid $1.2 million in back taxes and is advancing utility and planning steps toward development.
Juan Gonzalez, speaking for the Industrial Development Agency, told supervisors the IDA board includes representatives from both Washington and Warren counties and that the agency currently tracks about 36 active projects.
Gonzalez described three parcels near the Queensbury/Glens Falls Airport industrial park: one was sold to KRS Holdings and used as buffer/wetlands, another is being discussed with a Rotary Club for a tree farm and wildlife education center, and a third (an 8-parcel tract) is under negotiation with a local owner and municipality about restoring it to taxable status.
He highlighted Canal Side as the IDA’s top priority for county impact. The IDA paid $1,200,000 in back taxes in 2022 to acquire the site and has since carried special-district taxes and related costs. Gonzalez said grant applications for utilities and continued planning are underway and that, if all goes well, the IDA expects to “get a shovel on the ground this year.” He noted the agency is working quietly with a potential buyer and municipal partners while resolving about 25 major outstanding issues on a project Gantt chart.
Gonzalez urged supervisors to contact IDA staff with municipal-level preferences and emphasized that elected officials’ input will guide whether incentives or projects move into a particular municipality. He said the IDA tries to avoid work where municipalities explicitly opt out of incentives but will meet supervisors before advancing projects.
Questions from supervisors focused on metrics (job creation and long-term success rates), pilot vs. full incentive approaches, and follow-up on earlier conversations about slaughterhouses and large ag-related projects; Gonzalez said the IDA will provide more metrics and work with the county’s economic-development partners.
