State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli will be in Niagara Falls today to release details of a year-long audit his office conducted on the city’s economic development contracts with two major downtown landowners.
A press conference with DiNapoli and Mayor Paul Dyster is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at City Hall, 745 Main St.
DiNapoli’s office started a review of the city’s contracts with Niagara Falls Redevelopment and the Baltimore-based Cordish Co. in June 2008 to determine if all of the performance mandates are being met. In April, investigators interviewed several lawmakers and officials at City Hall to gather information and conduct an exit conference, said William Reynolds, deputy press secretary to the state comptroller.
The audit is not expected to include any rulings against either of the two developers, but will provide a third-party evaluation on whether the city is properly keeping them in compliance with provisions set out in the contracts.
Dyster has said the city could use the audit to implement any recommendations to remedy noncompliance issues among the two developers, which combined own or have control over numerous key properties downtown that for the most part remain vacant.
NFR struck a development deal in 1997 with the city and later revised that contract in 2003 to set out a series of projects for roughly 140 acres of land worth $110 million that have not yet been built.
Rainbow Square Limited, a subsidiary of the Cordish Co., holds a 75-year lease to operate the Rainbow Centre mall. The lease started in 1981 and the mall has been almost entirely vacant since the late 1990s.
Despite the lack of activity on the properties controlled by NFR and Cordish, both companies have remained current with their taxes.
While he’s anxious to see DiNapoli’s findings, Dyster pointed out the city has taken steps on its own to improve communications and relations with Cordish and NFR since the audit began 13 months ago. That includes creating a new economic development director position, he said.
In addition, the city and Cordish approved an out-of-court legal settlement last month that put an amicable end to opposing lawsuits regarding the lease agreement. The settlement reiterated an acknowledgment by the city that Cordish is unable to meet its contractual obligation to operate a viable retail mall on its property at 302 Rainbow Blvd. because of the current and projected economic climate.
“We want to look at the comptroller’s recommendations and take any advice we get and make sure it’s incorporated into any agreement we have with a developer,” Dyster said. “We’re also hoping we’ve started covering some of the bases already. We’re feeling a little more optimistic these days about our future with developers.”
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