Council OK’s business boost on North Road

Date: 9/21/2011

Sept. 21, 2011

By Debbie Gardner

Assistant Editor

WESTFIELD — The City Council paved the way for increased economic growth in the North Road area by accepting proposals on three new businesses at its Sept. 15 meeting.

The council began by approving 12-0 Mayor Daniel Knapik’s request for a lease agreement between the city and Gulfstream Aerospace Services for land located at Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport. Ward Five City Councilor Richard Onofrey Jr. was absent for this and all other votes that evening.

Westfield City Advancement Officer Jeffrey Daley explained that this was a proposed 15-year lease, which encompassed 4.5 acres at a cost of $55,000 for the first five years, with the city and Gulfstream using private appraisals to determine the land value every five years thereafter. For years six through 15, Daley said Gulfstream planned to lease another 6.5 acres for an additional $25,000 annually.

This lease agreement paved the way for two other council-approved motions, the creation of an Economic Opportunity Area (EOA) for a proposed Gulfstream project, and a Tax Increment Financing Agreement (TIF) for that project.

Achieving an EOA and/or a TIF designation provides tax incentives to a company seeking to do business with a city or with the state.

Daley told the council that approval of the EOA and TIF would put Westfield in competition with a facility in Appleton, Wis., and another in Georgia to bring more Gulfstream jobs to the city.

He said Gulfstream presently employs 132 people to maintain and repair 400 private luxury jet aircraft annually at a facility just off the airport. The company’s annual salary at that facility is $97 million. According to Daley, it also purchases $1.2 million in supplies from Massachusetts-based companies every year.

Should Westfield win the bid, Daley said Gulfstream would increase the number of planes it services at a proposed new 100,000 square foot facility to approximately 800, and would add about 100 new jobs at the site.

“We will get an increase in our tax base and increased land use of what is currently a grass field,” he told the council.

Daley said, if approved by the council that evening, the EOA and TIF agreements would be taken to Boston for approval by the Legislature, which was expected to return an answer to the city and Gulfstream by Sept. 27.

Gulfstream Vice President and General Counsel Berman said that, following the meetings in Boston, his company “will have all the information to make a decision” on where it would locate its new facility.

The council approved both the EOA and TIFF by a vote of 12-0.

The council also considered and approved an EOA and TIF for a proposed elderly housing and long-term care facility, also located on North Road.

Daley said independent investor Michael McCarthy was requesting these approvals for his Armbrook Senior Living project, a 166 unit independent living and a memory assisted care unit located in a 107,000 square foot facility at 551 North Road and Southampton Road. When completed, Daley said the facility would add 25 new full time and approximately 100 part time jobs to the city’s economy.

“Mr. McCarthy could have taken advantage of state and federal grants, but he is investing $20 million of his own money in this project,” Daley said, adding that McCarthy was also using private financing for the project. He added McCarthy had been working to get approval for this project for more than three years.

The council approved both the EOA and TIF for Armbrook Senior Living by a vote of 12-0.

In addition, the council approved 12-0 an EOA and TIF for the expansion of the Seal Ryt Corporation, which is looking to expand its current facility, located on ServiceStar road.

Daley said Seal Ryt plans to add a 25,000 square foot facility on a 3-acre parcel when it relocates his manufacturing and international exporting business from Easthampton to Westfield. The move would add 12 additional jobs to a staff of 14.

Daley said Seal Ryt President Mark R. Wilkinson was “excited to be bringing his business to Westfield.” He also said the TIF would extend only to the new facility, not the existing building Seal Ryt occupies.

At Large City Councilor David A. Flaherty noted that it was not the tax rate, which for Seal Ryt would increase dramatically following its move, but apparently access to faster transportation that was a deciding factor in the company’s choice to relocate to Westfield.

Debbie Gardner can be reached by e-mail at debbieg@thereminder.com