Orleans seeks state grant for plan to develop 300-acre business park in Medina
Courtesy of Orleans EDA: The 300-plus acre Medina Business Park is the largest shovel-ready business park in Western New York. The site includes land north and south on Maple Ridge Road, just west of the Bates Road intersection.
MEDINA – To take the Medina Business Park to the next level, the Orleans Economic Development Agency needs a plan for putting a turning lane on Maple Ridge Road by the park, managing wetlands, removing trees, and getting infrastructure deeper into the park.
Jim Whipple, Orleans EDA chief executive officer, said it will cost about $70,000 for a study that answers questions on the park’s 300 acres for infrastructure and other issues.
The agency, through Orleans County, will be seeking a state grant for $50,000 for the project. The County Legislature on Wednesday agreed to seek the Community Development Block Grant through the state community planning program.
The study is needed to advance bigger projects for getting water and sewer lines into the interior of the Business Park, which is the largest shovel ready site in Western New York, Whipple said.
Last year, Pride Pak opened a new vegetable processing facility at the site. A developer is looking to open a new hotel next to Pride Pak, and a Chinese company has the Medina Business Park as one of its two finalists for a project in New York, Whipple told county legislators on Wednesday.
The Medina site, with its access to low-cost hydropower and village water and sewer, is attractive for companies. The Medina Business Park is conveniently located between Buffalo and Rochester, and is also within 45 minutes of the Ontario, Canada border.
But the EDA needs a detailed blueprint for developing the site, which has parcels ranging from 5 to 125 acres.
If the state grant is approved, Whipple said the EDA and its local partners will need to chip in $20,000 for the study.
