17 | SPECIAL REPORT AUGUST 24, 2015 | VOL. 51, No. 34
31 | FACES & PLACES westfaironline.com
YOUR ONLY SOURCE FOR REGIONAL BUSINESS NEWS
BY EVAN FALLOR evan@westfairinc.com
T $60M in improvements coming to Jefferson Valley Mall
he Jefferson Valley Mall in Yorktown Heights, long in need of a cosmetic makeover, is now getting one. Construction crews broke ground Aug. 14 on the first phase of a $60 million revitalization project for the mall, one that officials have called a “style evolution” that will last roughly two years. The mall, which is owned by Columbus, Ohio-based real estate investment company WP Glimcher, will see new exterior entrances, upgrades to its food court and other interior upgrades. State Sen. Terrence Murphy, who represents Yorktown Heights — and helped kickstart the renovation process as a Yorktown town councilman six years ago — said phase one involves demolishing an old movie theater, a process expected to last two months. The vacant theater will become additional retail and restaurant space. » JEFFERSON VALLEY MALL, page 6
The existing entrance will be redone as shown in this rendering.
Dutchess County flies to private partner for airport lift BY JOHN GOLDEN jgolden@westfairinc.com
D
utchess County officials have turned to a private partner to take over aviation-related services at the county airport, part of a strategy to attract more private investment in commercial and retail development there and eliminate the drag on taxpayers from a chronically deficit-ridden airport operation. But commercial flights, which ended in 2001 at the 640-acre airport in the town of Wappinger after a decade-long decline, are not expected to soon resume in the tailwind of the county’s new five-year lease deal with FlightLevel Aviation, an independent fixedbase operator, Dutchess County Executive
Marcus J. Molinaro told the Business Journal. Molinaro said his administration has reduced the annual operating deficit at the airport from $800,000 when he took office in 2012 to less than $400,000. The 12-employee airport operates this year on an approximately $2.7 million budget. With the agreement with FlightLevel, the operating deficit will be eliminated, he said, although the county still will incur an annual debt service expense for capital improvements for about 10 years. Headquartered at the Norwood Memorial Airport in suburban Boston since its launch in 2007, FlightLevel Aviation is also a fixedbase operator at middle-market airports in Brunswick, Maine, and Cape May, N.J. Its new Hudson Valley entity, FlightLevel Dutchess LLC, will provide line services such as fuel-
ing, hangaring, tie-down and parking, aircraft rental and aircraft maintenance, in addition to offering customers the use of pilot lounges, car service and taxi scheduling and hotel reservation assistance. The county, which will retain eight employees at the airport, will continue to provide runway and ground maintenance, snow removal and Federal Aviation Administration oversight. The company will rent a portion of the main terminal building and Hangar 9 and initially invest up to $100,000 in capital improvements to the two buildings. FlightLevel also will rent an approximately 153,500-squarefoot aviation development area at the facility, according to the county executive’s office. » AIRPORT, page 6