COMIDA, the County of Monroe Industrial Development Agency, has approved a tax incentive package for a $30 million renovation plan at Marketplace Mall in Henrietta.
The plan approved by the COMIDA board was a little shorter than was originally being talked about, to 20 years, instead of 25 years. Among those who have been upset with the plan, partly because of the length of the agreement, is the superintendent of Rush-Henrietta schools, who is concerned about the loss of tax revenue to the district.
COMIDA executive director Judy Seil says the incentive makes sense because of the need to keep generating additional tax revenues from the mall.
“Right now you have a vacant facility, the old DSW building. We know Bon Ton is leaving the market after the holidays; you’re going to have two vacant facilities. So what happens when you have vacant facilities and you don’t fill them, that decreases the assessment of the mall, loses value. “
Wilmorite, the company that owns Marketplace, is projecting the project will create 170 new jobs over the next three years.
