Archive: Business & Technology

Wednesday morning a crowd gathered to celebrate the opening of Lansing Market. It's been over 15 years since the town had its own supermarket, and this one is a labor of love by Lansing people starting with Andy Sciarabba and his group of investors, almost all of them from Lansing. Lansing contractors Doug Dake and Doug Boles headed up the construction, and the store is embedded in the community in many ways including carrying local products, supporting local projects, and providing 55 new jobs in the town. But this is only the beginning of what town movers and shakers hope will become a vibrant town center.

"This is the anchor," Sciarabba says. "It's going to go from here to Rogue's Harbor. There will be a lot of in-fill of housing, professional offices, smaller businesses, coffee shops. That's what we want to make for Lansing that we sorely miss, I think. We're a very vibrant community, but we don't have a town center. It will be nice to see it happen."

Planners eventually see the center of that area, currently a 140 acre field across from the town ballfields that Lansing officials are in the final stages of purchasing from New York State. In January The Lansing Pathways Committee opened a walking trail there that has been well used since it was established. Sciarabba hopes to convince Town officials use some of that land along with a parcel he owns that is across the street from the supermarket to lay the foundations of an industrial park.

"I think we need to have some shovel-ready lots available," he says. "It takes too long in this environment. If a company needs to be in within six or nine months it is almost impossible to do today. You have to have things ready for an industrial park with roads in and infrastructure in place. And the sewer is critical. If you can put in the sewer at the same time, those things could play out well."

Sciarabba has been a force that is making the Lansing Town Center a reality much sooner than many expected. Sciarabba chairs the Town's Economic Development Committee, and he has been instrumental, along with Tompkins County Area Development's (TCAD) Heather Filaberto, in getting the County's Industrial Development Agency (IDA) to get behind a Lansing Town Center Incentive Zone that will offer tax incentives to developers who will bring business and housing to the area.

He notes that the reduction in the value of the AES Cayuga power plant is a big hit for the Town, and worries that it could close, leaving a huge gap in tax revenues for Lansing. He says there are between $40 and $80 million in new projects in various stages of the planning process right now.

Andy Sciarabba gives Lansing Market the thumbs up at the ribbon cutting Wednesday as store manager Don Taylert (left) looks on

 

One of these projects is his own, an office building to be located behind Lansing Market. His group also owns the successful building on the Peruville/Triphammer Roads corner that houses Next Jeneration Dance Studio and other businesses, and this new building will bring more businesses and jobs to the town.

"It's the perfect spot for an office building because it's not commercially viable for retail stores," Sciarabba says. "It's more inclined to be a private area, so that's what we proposed to the Planning Board the other night."

The Triphammer/Peruville Road intersection is the second busiest in Tompkins County. It has continued to see high traffic since the Xtramart rebuilt and reopened last May. When Crossroads Bar & Grill opened in 2009 it brought more people to the intersection, which was part of a hamlet known as Terpening Corners. Wednesday's opening of Lansing Market makes the intersection a serious contender as both a destination and a stop along the way from Cortland, Dryden, and Groton to Lansing and Ithaca.

A plan developed by architects working with the Town Center Committee leaves plenty of room for more businesses, housing, and even a new town park. But Sciarabba hasn't been content to wait. He has been identifying needs of the community and working in front of and behind the scenes to make them happen.

The ribbon cutting was very well attended Wednesday, a sign that the Town will support this business over the long haul. It is also a sign that Lansing's dream of a town center isn't just a dream any more. Lansing Market is a tangible part of that plan that will lend credence to the concept and attract developers to build in the area town planners envision cluster growth. That will also help make up for the tax burden residents are shouldering more and more as the power plant continues to lose value.

"We're doing our best to do it right," Sciarabba says. "Fortunately Lansing's geography is in the right spot to make the community a job center, so I think it will work out well."

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