At the Middletown council meeting on March 4, the director of the city’s Industrial Development Agency (IDA) talked about how the agency has helped to breathe new life into vacant buildings, increase the tax roll, and create hundreds of jobs over the past decade.
Common incentives come in the form of reduced or exempted sales, property, and mortgage recording taxes.
IDA Director Maria Bruni first highlighted how the agency facilitated the redevelopment of the vacant former Horton Hospital building on Prospect Avenue into a private medical school 10 years ago that—unlike a hospital—pays property taxes and has continued its expansion to this day.
Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, through its developer Danza Leser Group LLC, spent around $60 million on building renovations on its Middletown campus and now pays $151,000 in annual property taxes.
Under its agreement with IDA, its property taxes will grow incrementally each year until 2028, when it starts paying the full amount to the local school district, city, and county.
The medical college has created 140 full-time jobs, and last year, it added 47 construction jobs to facilitate the ongoing expansion of the campus, Bruni said.
She also highlighted Equilibrium, a craft brewery that turned an abandoned property on Henry Street into a brewery in 2015 with the help of the city and IDA. Several years later, it redeveloped a former bank property downtown into another brewery and restaurant.
“Equilibrium started in Middletown, and we wanted them to expand in Middletown and not go anywhere else,” Bruni said, adding that the two sister projects have brought close to 40 full-time jobs to the city and pay around $25,000 in property taxes this year.
Another developer, Heritage Properties LLC, worked with IDA and turned a former industrial property that spans almost an entire city block on Cottage Street into a mixed-use building that houses a restaurant, a brewery, and several apartments.
“In our little community of 30,000 people, we now have two breweries,” Bruni told city council members and public attendees.
She also pointed to other IDA projects, such as the relocation of Poly Craft Industries from Long Island, the Promenade assisted living facility, and Southeast Towers senior housing.
In terms of job creation, the agency has brought in more than 1,000 full-time jobs to Middletown since 2007, according to Bruni.
Middletown IDA is governed by a volunteer board that consists of seven members: David Madden, the chair; Wayne Hawkins, the vice chair; Andrew Britto; Mayor Joseph DeStefano; Anthony Joseph Cantoli; Elizabeth Nemeth, and Brian Seigerman.
“I just want to thank the council and the mayor for supporting the various public authority agencies that we have in the city of Middletown, including IDA,” Bruni said.
Bruni also serves as the director of the city’s community development agency and as the president of the Business Improvement District.
