<!--Rick Forgione--><table width="234" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" background="http://static.cnhi.zope.net/flashpromo/niagaragazette/images/byline_234x60.jpg" height="60"><tr><td><div align="center"><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By Rick Forgione</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></font><font size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="mailto:rick.forgione@niagara-gazette.com">rick.forgione@niagara-gazette.com</a></font></div></td></tr></table>
World-renowned chef Walter Potenza came to Niagara Falls last year looking to open a bistro restaurant and bar in the downtown area.
He left with a bitter taste in his mouth after a few interviews with USA Niagara Development Corp. officials.
Potenza said he began discussions with the state agency and was encouraged to select a vacant property at the end of Old Falls Street, east of the Wintergarden. After traveling here at his own expense from his New Jersey home for three separate meetings, he was told the targeted building was no longer available. He said USA Niagara officials then recommended he seek other locations in the city to open his business.
“I walked out of there a little bit dejected,” he said. “I would’ve never spent the money to go there and waste my days if I knew that building wasn’t going to be available. It just seems like USA Niagara maybe doesn’t have enough strength or knew enough people to make it happen.”
Born in Italy, Potenza came to the U.S. in 1972 and has become one the top Italian chefs in the country, appearing on television programs like “Iron Chef” on the Food Network. While he’s no longer interested in dealing with USA Niagara on a downtown project, he’s still considering a spot on Pine Avenue. He credited Pine Avenue Business Association Executive Director Mary Jo Zacher with giving him the support USA Niagara didn’t.
“We are national restaurants, I could’ve only helped down there,” Potenza said. “All I expected from them is the same opportunity given to anyone who wants to open a business in Niagara Falls.”
Others share similar stories of frustration about USA Niagara.
Lifelong Falls resident Zach Casale recently approached USA Niagara as a consultant for a local debt collection agency about moving within the downtown district. Casale said the agency was considering three separate sites, including a vacant building on Third Street, and planned on staffing 50 jobs initially and another 25 in the upcoming months.
USA Niagara wasn’t interested in providing support, he said.
“Basically, I was told collection agencies don’t create spin-off development,” Casale said, adding the collection agency was only looking for a modest state grant or loan to help renovate the building. “I thought they would’ve been all over it.”
Casale was more surprised with what he heard next. USA Niagara officials suggested renting office space across from the Fashion Outlets Niagara Falls in the Town of Niagara, he said.
“This is a state agency in charge of economic development in downtown Niagara Falls and they’re telling me to take 40 to 75 jobs outside of Niagara Falls,” he said.
USA Niagara President Christopher Schoepflin argues the state agency has made far more offers to potential projects than it has said no. However, guidelines are set up to determine whether funding is appropriate, whether it be a hotel expansion or a new bar opening on Third Street.
He said the primary goal is to strike a balance between infrastructure improvements and mixed-use and retail development. The owner also must demonstrate a need for the service before USA Niagara will consider supplementing private investment dollars to fill a budget hole.
“You can’t have it both ways,” he said. “You can’t say we should have an unlimited amount of resources for anybody who wants it without any rules, but then turn around and say it’s taxpayer dollars so be careful how they’re spending it.”
All projects that are selected for funding fit within the state’s program regulations and are in line with the city’s master plan.
“While we try to be flexible and collaborative with developers, we’re not an ATM machine and I expect nobody would want us to be an ATM machine with public dollars,” Schoepflin said.
Business partners Dan Vecchies and Shawn Weber, two of the agency’s primary critics, said they recently pitched a development plan modeled after “Fourth Street Live” in Louisville, Ky. The popular strip is packed with restaurants, bars and entertainment venues, including numerous large chains such as Borders and T.G.I. Fridays. On any given night, hundreds of people converge on the street for live music and events.
Vecchies and Weber recently lined up some “serious developers” interested in bringing the same design to Niagara Falls’ Third Street entertainment district. They met with USA Niagara and members of Mayor Paul Dyster’s economic development team to discuss the possibilities.
Weber declined to identify the other investors but said they also left dejected following the city and state’s pitch and what appeared to be a lack of enthusiasm for the project.
“We had a lot of outside interests and we were bringing in some heavier hitters, but they got a very cool reception from USA Niagara and the city,” Weber said. “They’re no longer interested in coming to Niagara Falls.”
As a result, a potential $20 million project “fell on deaf ears” and passed the city by, Vecchies said.
“If you have the chance to bring something like that to our city, the response should’ve been, ‘tell me what you need and I will do everything I can to make it happen,’ ” Weber added.
Weber, who has received funds through USA Niagara, said he’s brought other potential projects and ideas to the table but even when the initial interview went well, there was no follow-up conversations initiated by USA Niagara or the city’s economic team.
“They don’t have any idea what they’re doing, from the top to the bottom,” Weber said. “I don’t think they understand the fundamental issue, that they’re competing for the investment dollar.”
