NNY Business February 2018 by NNY Business

Inside FEBRUARY 2018 13

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COVER |

14 REVITALIZING DOWNTOWN The projects and proposals are in; the question now is what will be funded? |

BUSINESS BRIEFCASE |

12 WING WARS Over $4,000 raised for North Country Life Flight. SMALL BIZ STARTUP | 13 CRAVE New restaurant in Cape Vincent features comfort food and crafty cocktails. |

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TOP TRANSACTIONS |

25 JEFFERSON COUNTY

The top 10 property sales in Jefferson County topped more than $3 million in January. |

BUSINESS SCENE |

46 NETWORKING, NNY STYLE From Jefferson to Lewis counties, business professionals connect for success. |

ONLINE |

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February 2018 | NNY Business

SMAL L BU SIN E SS S TA RT UP BUSINESS

CRAVE Restaurant

The village of Cape Vincent is far from coastal Florida. But as Hurricane Irma hit the coast in 2017 little did they know the impact it would have on their river village. CRAVE, a new restaurant that features comfort food and crafty cocktails, opened on Black Friday in Cape Vincent and wouldn’t have existed if it weren’t for the storm. “I came up here because of Hurricane Irma. There was supposed to be 15 feet of storm surge, so I put the storm shutters up and me and mom came up to Cape Vincent,” said owner and head chef Todd Scheffield. Mr. Scheffield, originally from Rochester, N.Y., had been visiting Cape Vincent since 1980 when his parents purchased a summer home along the river. When the hurricane hit, he and his mother ventured back to the river community without any plans on staying long-term. “We were here for a few weeks and didn’t want to go back because the gas stations weren’t open yet, and saw this place was for sale,” he said. It was then that he decided to purchase the building, which previously had been a restaurant named Breakers. Seeing the restaurant for sale in early September, he made an offer and within a month and a half closed on the sale, opening the doors to CRAVE a month after that. “It just took a few coats of new paint; it was baby blue when we got the building. And we added a fireplace,” said Mr. Scheffield. “We just added our touch to what was here.” The name CRAVE was easy for Mr. Scheffield to come up with simply because he says, “people have always craved my food.” He had previously owned two restaurants in Florida, as he has been a chef his entire career, specializing in what he calls fine-dining BBQ. The menu at CRAVE is comfort food with a twist, he says. “It’s like meatloaf, but not just your diner meatloaf. It’s with a bourbon-spiked demi-glace with peppercorns in it. Or we have a huge potpie that’s vodka-spiked. We do lasagna and gnocchi’s, all homemade. Everything is homemade in-house, all salad dressings are in-house, desserts, everything,” he said. Mr. Scheffield and his mother, Juanita, who co-owns the restaurant, say that the restaurant has been busy since they opened, receiving five-star reviews on TripAdvisor and Facebook.

Photography by: Amanda Morrison

“The community has accepted us very well,” he said. CRAVE has not seen a summer open in Cape Vincent just yet, but they are hopeful that the enthusiasm they have seen this winter for their food just gets better as tourism season starts. “We have four people on staff right now and will increase that as the sum-

mer hits. The building is about 1,400 to 1,500 square feet and can seat up to 60 people,” said Mr. Scheffield. “I hope to expand a bit, make the bar bigger, have an inside/outside bar and add a patio in the back of the restaurant to seat more.” ~Holly C. Boname

WHERE Cape Vincent, NY | OPENED November 2017 | WEB facebook.com/CRAVE-451181168611777/

February 2018 | NNY Business

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WATERTOWN DAILY TIMES FILE PHOTO

| February NNYdesigner Business 2018 14 |Urban Marc Newman of PLACE Alliance presented a model plan to revitalize downtown. The city has asked for public input for projects through the DRI.

C O V E R ST O RY

AMANDA MORRISON n NNY BUSINESS Community members make a stop on State Street while touring areas in downtown Watertown under consideration for the $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative.

AMANDA MORRISON n NNY BUSINESS The historical Paddock Arcade is one of the proposed buildings to receive funding from the DRI.

AMANDA MORRISON n NNY BUSINESS Ian Law, left, and Geoffrey Urda, right, explain the tour process to a group of community members while touring areas in downtown Watertown under consideration for the $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative. 18 | NNY Business | February 2018

Mall in 1986 and subsequent growth of outer Arsenal Street changed downtown’s retail landscape. But maybe not forever. Mr. Shuler doesn’t foresee a grocery store or a big clothing store ever opening downtown. Yet downtown is already in the middle of a rebound, with the $18 million restoration of the Woolworth Building that includes 50 apartments and a string of small businesses opening down the street in the historic Lincoln Building after going through renovations on the first floor. “I love downtown,” he said. “I love being downtown.” He chose downtown because of its “affordable rent.” If the kind of investment that Mayor Butler talks about happens, downtown can change for years, Mr. Shuler said. “The DRI can transform downtown,” he said. “The right businesses will bring people downtown. I really feel good about it.” Donald G.M. Coon III, a managing partner in 200 Washington Associates, has proposed a $2 million public garage behind the Key Bank that the local company owns. At a cost between $2 million and $2.5 million, the parking deck for between 100 and 150 vehicles would mainly be used by tenants of the buildings the company owns in that section of downtown. Additional parking is needed to achieve the optimum potential from the DRI program, he said. But he’s just excited about the prospects of bringing more people downtown as the result of new businesses and tenants living in newlycreated market-rate apartments. Jobs also would be created, he said. Mr. Coon has proposed a $300,000 project to upgrade nine market-rate upper floor apartments in the historic Paddock Arcade. They would have a view of historic Public Square. They are among 36 market rate units proposed for downtown as part of the city’s DRI program. Local businessman Stephen J. Bradley wants to create 18 units in a series of buildings he owns on Court Street. The upper floors of a handful of buildings along Public Square also would include new market-rate apartments. Mr. Coon is also requesting DRI funding to spruce up the Paddock Arcade - the longest used indoor mall in the country - for a $475,000 proposed project. The work would include adding an elevator and restoring the glass ceiling that has 96 separate pieces. More places to live and shop, and more people coming to the central business district to spend money would be good for downtown, Mr. Coon said. He sees it as “a quality of life” issue. Overall, the DRI and the projects that are even-

20 QU E STIONS

PHOTOS BY AMANDA MORRISON

GUIDING DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT

ichael Lumbis has served in Watertown’s Planning Department for 25 years and is acting as the city’s point person on a $10 million state grant to help revitalize Public Square and the downtown area. NNY Business sat down with Mr. Lumbis to discuss the direction downtown development is taking and possible projects that could benefit from the grant money. NNYB: In your position, you’ve likely had the opportunity to study several cities’ downtowns. Are there any common elements that characterize a vibrant downtown? LUMBIS: I think if you were to look at and study successful downtowns, you’d find that most probably start out with some kind of vision, or a plan that describes how the community wants its downtown to be in the future, and you’d have goals and strategies that would help you implement that vision over time. There are a lot of great examples of successful downtowns. In addition to having a plan, probably one of the most important elements is that you have people. And in order to get people, you need pedestrian generators; you need a good mix of uses, you need people living in downtown, working in downtown, people going downtown for entertainment, all those things play off each other and really build momentum and activate your downtown. I

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n Planner piecing together ideas designed to transform Watertown’s Public Square think that’s certainly something that would help make a successful downtown. The other thing is, you need your downtown area to be walkable, geared more toward pedestrians and not so much geared toward automobiles. Aesthetic appeal is very important; you want to have vibrant, historic architecture, well-maintained sidewalks, ornamental street lights, benches, all the different amenities that make a place special. Another thing that makes a downtown successful is a nice mix of public and private investment. A city can’t do it alone and private investment can’t do it alone. It really has to be both groups working together to get it done. The city can improve public space, streets, sidewalks and even public parks in Public Square, and property owners need to invest in their buildings and get the right mix of businesses in there. All of these different elements can work together to create an experience, something that you can’t get from Amazon. These days, retailers and businesses are competing against big-box stores and Amazon, and in order to compete with those outlets you need to make it an experience; you need to make your shopping experience, your dining experience something special, something you can’t get anywhere else. I think that’s really what makes a downtown successful. NNYB: Does downtown Watertown currently have any of these elements?

LUMBIS: I think we do. As part of the DRI, or the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, we are developing a plan, so that’s first and foremost. But we have great historic architecture, we have pretty well-maintained streets and sidewalks, the park area in the middle of Public Square has got a lot of trees and benches. That really helps with the overall appeal and the vibrancy in downtown. NNYB: What are some of the existing qualities of downtown Watertown that can be built upon? LUMBIS: I think we need to become more pedestrian friendly over time. When we did the Public Square streetscape project more than 10 years ago, we significantly improved the aesthetic quality of downtown, we made some pedestrian enhancements. But I think we can do more to make it safer for pedestrians to move about downtown. With some of the changes being proposed, I think we can create a space where people can congregate, hold events, and just have events that will bring more people downtown. By working with private property owners, we can continue to invest in our buildings and we can continue to rehab those, fix up the facades. We’ve got some great programs, like the Façade Improvement Program with the WLDC (Watertown Local Development Corp.).

2 0 Q U E S T I O NS The Michael Lumbis File AGE: 47 JOB: Planning and community development director, city of Watertown FAMILY: Wife, Marci, and children Emily, Elizabeth and Michael. HOMETOWN: Watertown EDUCATION: Watertown High School (1988); bachelor of landscape architecture from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (1993). CAREER: Planning intern, city of Watertown (1993-94); assistant planner, city of Watertown (1994-2001); planner, city of Watertown (2001-16); planning and community development director, city of Watertown (2016-present). LAST BOOK YOU’VE READ AND WOULD RECOMMEND: Crushing It In Apartments and Commercial Real Estate, by Brian Murray.

The city’s applied for a couple of different grants that have helped some property owners fix up their buildings, like the Lincoln Building and Masonic Temple. We can continue to do that. The Watertown Local Development Corporation has some low-interest loans for businesses, so there’s a lot of things we can do there to encourage and foster business development. NNYB: What are some of the challenges? LUMBIS: One of the challenges is building consensus on a direction and vision for downtown, and then carrying out that vision. No matter what you propose to do, especially when there’s significant changes, you’re going to have critics and people who either don’t think you should change anything or you should do something completely the opposite. So I think the challenge is to convince people to think longer-term, and stay the course, keeping in mind the bigger picture that we’re trying to achieve. Convincing people that change is good can be difficult. Another challenge is getting people in the downtown nights and weekends, and so anything we can do to help business owners expand their hours past the typical 9 to 5, Monday through Friday-type of workday is something that we should try to do. NNYB: The city recently received a $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant through the state. How long was this in the works? LUMBIS: We initially applied to the DRI program in 2016; I think it was June of 2016. We weren’t successful in that first round, so when the second round became available in May of this year, we kind of took another look at our application, and obviously tried to make

it better. We looked at some applications from communities that had won in the first round and tried to really refine our application and make it a little bit better. So I guess, really, it started in June of 2016 when we first applied to the program. Then, of course, we were successful this year and the governor announced the award in October. So, it’s been in the works for a little bit. NNYB: A committee was formed to come up with various projects that could benefit from DRI funds. How was the committee formed? LUMBIS: The committee’s called the Local Planning Committee and it’s made up of local and regional leaders, downtown stakeholders and community representatives. Some of the LPC members were appointed by the mayor (Joseph M. Butler), and others were suggested for appointment by some of our state partners who we’re working with on the project. Cochairs are Mayor Butler and Kylie Peck from the Greater Watertown-North Country Chamber of Commerce. NNYB: What is the committee’s charge? What is it being asked to do? LUMBIS: First and foremost, they’re tasked with developing a strategic investment plan for the city - ¬¬for the downtown - including having an overall vision, as well as strategies and projects that will help implement that overall vision and the goals that we adopted. As part of the plan, they’ll be identifying projects that they feel are key to downtown revitalization. The committee, in addition to developing this plan, is really representing the community’s interest. They’ve been actively seeking input throughout the development of the plan through public

participation at the LPC meetings, hosting public open houses, workshops, all with the idea of getting public input and helping to develop the plan. Ultimately, they will be recommending the projects that they feel should be funded through the DRI. NNYB: How will the committee come to a consensus regarding which projects are funded? LUMBIS: To back up a little, they started to ask for ideas back in the very beginning of the process, back in November and December, and ideas could be submitted through Dec. 15. Since that time, the committee, along with our planning consultant, has been trying to create project profiles. They’re trying to get as much information about the project as possible, everything from details about what the project will entail, how the project’s going to be financed, how much investment the property owner’s willing to put in, the number of jobs that are going to be created - if there are any - and the overall impact: How is the project going to help transform downtown? So we’ve got a 20-member LPC, and they’re breaking up into three subcommittees to evaluate sort of different categories of projects. They’ll be starting to evaluate those, prioritizing them, and determining what are more of the short-term projects that can be implemented right away, and what are more long-term, visionary type projects that would need some more study and would have to be further developed before they can be executed. Part of the DRI program, one of the criteria, is that they have to evaluate the readiness of a project; is it ready to go? The state and the governor want projects that are ready to break ground as soon as possible So the committee is developing the project profiles, all the details about the project and then subcomFebruary 2018 | NNY Business

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2 0 Q U ES T I O NS and that contract could be directly with the city and we’ll be responsible for it. NNYB: The DRI program did not arise in a vacuum; it’s a step in a long-term process to improve downtown Watertown. The urban renewal era aside, when did the city ramp up efforts to improve downtown? LUMBIS: I think there’s always been a focus by the city, by the City Council, in revitalizing downtown. There were a lot of efforts in the 1980s - after urban renewal, after the (Salmon Run) mall was built - to look at ways to improve downtown. There are groups like Watertown Alive and the Downtown Business Association that did a lot of work, completed a lot of projects, and made a lot of progress. Maybe in the 1990s things slowed down a little bit, but I would say really since the turn of the century there’s been a lot of focus on downtown. The streetscape project was completed in 2008, but that was in the works as early as 1999. It took several years to get all the funding pieces together and then design the project and a couple years to construct it, as well. So there’s been that effort on the city’s part. We’ve invested in some of our public art down there. The Soldiers and Sailors Monument and the (Public Square) fountain were restored. The city, in partnership with the Governor Flower Monument Committee, restored that monument. But there’s also been a lot of work done by Neighbors of Watertown to rehab and redevelop countless numbers of buildings. There’s been private property owner investors that have fixed up there buildings. So in the past 10 or 15 years there’s really been a lot of activity. NNYB: In announcing the DRI funding, Gov. Andrew Cuomo specifically cited the Masonic Temple as the possible location for a performing arts center. Is that project emerging as a priority for the DRI committee? LUMBIS: I think it is. It’s definitely a great project and I think overall the LPC supports it. The challenge is, the complete restoration of the building is going to take millions and millions of dollars. We’re not going to be able to put all of the $10 million into that building, so one of the challenges is to try to figure out at what level the DRI can support it. We need to figure out what other sources of funding might be available, how the performing arts center would operate on a long-term basis; basically develop a long-term plan for the sustainability of the arts center, as well as the building itself. But overall, I think it’s a project that the committee is really excited about, the public is excited about and I think it is starting to evolve, or emerge, as a priority. NNYB: One idea that has arisen in DRI discussions is to close a portion of Public Square to make it more pedestrian friendly. Does the

configuration of Public Square naturally lend itself to a pedestrian mall? LUMBIS: I think the configuration of Public Square does lend itself to creating a pedestrian mall down there. There would certainly be a few challenges associated with redesigning how the traffic enters, especially at the east and west end, and you’d have to create some new intersection alignments. But I think the traffic could flow all on one side or the other, and you could use the other space for a pedestrian area. If we were to do that, I think it would create a great space that would allow us to hold all sorts of events down there, like the Wednesday farmers’ market sponsored by the Greater Watertown-North Country Chamber of Commerce. Even the Saturday farmers’ market, if that ever expands and gets a little bit bigger, could go there. You’ve got the Black River Fall Fest, the Public Square block parties that were developed last summer. I think if you were to do that, the key would be to have that space active and to have weekly events, at a minimum. Because if you do it, and you don’t have those events, you’re kind of missing the point; you kind of need to get the people down there to the events to help create synergy with the businesses. NNYB: The word “transformational” has been used to describe the DRI program’s potential impact on downtown. Do you expect that 10 years from now city residents will view the improvements as transformational? LUMBIS: I really do think that we’re going to look back and city residents will think that it’s transformational. As I mentioned before, the grants will be for a number of different projects that will hopefully leverage some additional investment to help make that grant go a long ways. I think we’ll have a number of different projects that are completed and each one of those is going to be a key piece in helping to revitalize downtown. There’s a potential for maybe one or two projects to really be transformational, but I think it’s more the collective group of projects that we will see as transformational down the road. I think, long-term, this initial investment is going to spur more investment as the excitement builds and more people come downtown, more people want to be downtown. In talking to (Lincoln Building redeveloper) Brian Murray, he sees it as a slow time of year, but with all this excitement and buzz about DRI, his phone’s been ringing off the hook with people interested in coming downtown. I think that’ll be some of the longterm effects that we’ll see. NNYB: Can any of the DRI funding be set aside to help fund a project that has yet to be identified, but that may emerge as being important in the coming years?

LUMBIS: Not exactly. The DRI projects have to be what they call “shovel ready” and ready to be implemented almost immediately upon award by the state. But, there are a couple of projects that are being proposed that the LPC is considering. One is, the Watertown Local Development Corporation has proposed a façade improvement program, so there’ll be a certain amount of money set aside that they’ll be able to use for façade improvements for those. So in a way, yeah, for those yet-to-identified projects, I think (WLDC executive director) Don Rutherford kind of knows some of the buildings he’d like to target, but most of the projects will have to be shovel ready. NNYB: How soon can residents expect to see projects funded through DRI get underway? LUMBIS: First of all, the Local Planning Committee has to finalize the strategic investment plan and select priority projects by the end of the March. They have to have that plan completed and submitted to the state by the end of March. It’s our understanding that the awards for specific projects will be sometime this summer, and then after that various state governmental agencies and private property owners will have to enter into a contract with the state, which should take a few months. But really, by the end of 2018 or early 2019 we could see money flowing and projects starting to happen. So it really won’t be all that long. NNYB: In the mid-2000s, the city spent about $7 million to reconstruct Public Square. Is there a concern that creating a pedestrian mall on one side of the square would undo, or negate, some of that work? LUMBIS: That’s definitely a concern among some of the people that have attended the public meetings that we’ve held as part of the DRI process. But there’s been the other side of that, too, where a lot of people have said, “Yeah, we recognize that, but this is an opportunity to maybe really make a transformational change in downtown,” and to think of it a little bit differently. Rather than looking at the space as an area that is primarily used for vehicles, look at it as more of a pedestrian friendly space. This is probably one of those projects that I think the LPC generally likes and would like to include in the plan. I just think that, at this time, the discussion’s been that it’s probably not quite ready to go; it’s not as shovel ready as some of the other projects. We acknowledge that there would have to be a traffic study, you’d have to do a detailed design, you have to make sure that it’s going to work before you, obviously, built it. And given the tight timeframe, we probably don’t have time to do it, but I think what you’ll see, it’ll remain in the overall strategic plan as Please see LUMBIS, page 32 February 2018 | NNY Business

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EN V I R ON MENTAL BUS IN E SS

Trees Play Major Role in Enhancement of Downtowns

t the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), our division of Lands and Forests is actively working on conservation easements, forest preserve management in the Adirondack and Catskill parks, state land management, and urban forestry. At DEC, we do this for more than regulatory reasons. Trees play a major role in producing the oxygen we breathe and clean carbon dioxide out of the air. A walk in the woods is scientifically proven to slow heartbeats and lower blood pressure. Trees also prevent soil erosion and sequester carbon. In addition, trees provide habitat and food for birds and other animals. On a much smaller scale, urban forests do the same. Urban forestry is the care and management of single trees and tree populations in urban settings. In terms of downtown development, tree planting is a relatively economical way to make simple and long-lasting improvements to the landscape. Last year in the city of Watertown, nearly 230 new trees were added to the landscape. The city’s planning department oversees the Tree Watertown advisory group comprised of concerned citizens, department of public works officials, and of course, DEC Region 6 Forester Glen Roberts. Roberts became involved with Tree Watertown after the 1998 ice storm, which decimated hundreds of trees across the city. “Glen’s value is in his professional expertise as a forester,” says Mike Lumbis, city planner. Roberts guides species selection and shares advice when trees need to be removed due to disease or damage. He has also

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helped train staff and volunteers in planting. “Glen makes sure our trees are off to a good start, which gives them a better chance at survival,” says Lumbis. Judy Drabicki Roberts estimates that Watertown and its partners have planted more than 6,000 trees throughout the city and its parks. To its credit, for nearly 20 years, the city

of Watertown has been identified by the National Arbor Day Foundation as a “Tree City USA.” Watertown has also received an Urban and Community Forestry grant for tree inventory, allowing it to create a citywide community forest management plan. The city’s inventory will be implemented this spring. DEC involvement doesn’t end at advice and planting. Roberts and colleague Mike Giocondo, also a DEC forester, hold pruning workshops for the city’s public works staff and other municipalities in Jefferson County. These workshops pro-

vide an overview of tree anatomy, proper pruning techniques, methods, and evaluation of trees for pruning. The main focus is on younger trees and proper training to develop good structure. In addition, at Governor Andrew Cuomo’s direction, New York State is investing in efforts to limit the spread of invasive pests such as the emerald ash borer (EAB). Across the state, DEC foresters are combatting the effects of EAB, and in DEC’s Region 6 are working closely with Tree Watertown on EAB education and preparedness, sharing tips for early detection and management with landowners. An invasive pest first discovered in Michigan in 2002, EAB has destroyed millions of ash trees across in the United States. In New York, EAB was discovered in Cattaraugus County in 2009, and along the Hudson River Valley in 2010. By 2017, this pest was found in Franklin and St. Lawrence counties. New York has committed $13 million to combat the spread of invasive species that threaten our environment. As with so many things, DEC is more effective when we partner with others. The city of Watertown has demonstrated its commitment to—and understanding of—the value of urban forests, and DEC is pleased to be a longterm partner with the city on this and many other efforts. n JUDY DRABICKI is regional director, Region 6 NYSDEC, with a career that spans three decades of ensuring the natural beauty of the north country is protected and enjoyed for generations to come. She oversees a staff of more than 200 people, including engineers, biologists, permit writers, Forest Rangers and Environmental Conservation officers, operations staff, and many others.

BU SIN E SS S C E NE 2018 Snowtown Film Festival at the Dulles State Office Building in Watertown

From left, Marc Foulger, Tao Wang, and Patty Virginia attend the red carpet event for the Snowtown Film Festival at the Dulles State Office Building.

From left, Kirk Hansen and Jerry Asumbrado attend the red carpet event for the Snowtown Film Festival.

DAYTONA NILES PHOTOS | NNY BUSINESS

From left, Christie Andrus and Jamie Nakano attend the Snowtown Film Festival.

DAYTONA NILES PHOTOS | NNY BUSINESS

From left, Carson Young, 16, and Arik Hopson, 17, attend the red carpet event for the Snowtown Film Festival at the Dulles State Office Building as film makers showcased at the event.

February 2018 | NNY Business

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