VIEWPOINT: Broome County’s Building Boom

In 2024, Broome County is building more than it has in a generation with more than $500 million in construction projects. Take a look across our community, and you’ll see cranes and construction workers on job sites all across the county. They’re building housing, parks, airports, hospitals, malls, roads, bridges, and everything in between. Since I took office, as Broome County Executive, in 2017, I have partnered with the county legislature to reduce the property tax rate by more than 20 percent. We have also worked with our state and federal partners to deliver important funding to promote economic development. Lowering taxes while securing important grants for economic development has helped in making Broome County business-friendly and an attractive community for companies that want to expand. This work is paying off.

Key projects

The most visible economic-development project in the Southern Tier can be found right here in Broome County at the former Oakdale Mall. What was nearly an empty mall a few years ago has now become Oakdale Commons. We partnered with a local redevelopment group led by Doug Matthews and Marc Newman to completely redevelop the site. They brought in new restaurants including Beer Tree Factory, Panera Bread, and Chipotle. The newly constructed Guthrie Lourdes Health and Fitness Center has more than 6,500 members, and the world’s largest Dicks Sporting Goods House of Sport opened last year. BJ’s Wholesale Club opened its 100,000-square-foot store earlier this year, with Dave and Busters set to join this summer. The county also built a new workforce-development center at the mall to help train workers for all our new jobs. Boscov’s Department Store, one of the last downtown department stores left in the country, recently announced a $10 million renovation to its building, along with a 10-year long-term lease extension. This important anchor store will attract more retail businesses, restaurants, and people to downtown Binghamton. This has all occurred with a great partnership between Broome County, Boscov’s leadership, Mayor Kraham, and Assemblywoman Lupardo. UHS continues to invest in Johnson City. Over the last year, its $170 million Wilson Medical Center has appeared on the horizon, and UHS announced its grand opening in May, all while opening a new childcare center and 24/7 pharmacy. Through the $10 million Downtown Revitalization award from New York State, Johnson City continues to be a catalyst for infrastructure, housing, business development, and more. The Agency and its leader Stacey Duncan, who have been key partners on so many of these projects in Broome County, are also contributing to the revitalization of Johnson City. The Agency was recently awarded an $11 million state grant to develop a 27-acre site at 600 Main St. right off the highway, paving the way for new development at a key strategic site.​ Endicott continues to progress with its much-anticipated reconstruction of Washington Avenue. Several housing and economic-development projects will break ground this year with funding from the state’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative. The demolition of the old IBM building group will soon begin, funded in part by Broome County, making the rest of the Phoenix campus shovel-ready for development. Binghamton University’s New Energy New York program received more than $250 million in state and federal grants, providing our community with the opportunity to lead the world in research, development, and manufacture of lithium-ion batteries. With Binghamton University’s designation as a federal tech hub, this innovative work can happen right here, in Broome County.

Workforce/housing issues

In April, Raymond Corporation announced it had purchased two large buildings in Kirkwood, expanding its operations into Broome County. And just down the road, the old Five Mile Point racetrack will be redeveloped into a state-of-the-art warehousing facility. A recent county business survey released by the Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce indicated that many of our employers are seeking to expand their workforce. At the same time, we still have many open positions to fill as well. We believe the key to doing that is to build more housing and grow our population of people who want to work. A recently completed Broome County housing study identified the need for an additional 6,000 units of housing, including all types: single-family homes, market rate, senior housing, and, affordable housing. The more housing we can build, the more jobs we can fill. We expect to break ground on more than 500 units of housing this year, and most of these projects received American Rescue Plan Act funding from Broome County to get across the finish line. We worked with the Town of Union to demolish the former IBM Country Club in late 2022, clearing the way for 75 units of affordable housing. Helio Health is prepared to break ground on the former Sheltered Workshop Court Street, Binghamton site, creating 108 units of affordable housing, some of those for local veterans. Additional housing projects set to take place in 2024 are 72 units of affordable housing, along with a 100-slot on-site daycare operation planned for 333 Grand Avenue in Johnson City, 40 units of market-rate housing at the former St. Ambrose Church on Endicott’s Washington Avenue, 68 units of affordable housing at the YWCA in Binghamton, and hundreds of apartments targeted for renovation at Town & Country Apartments on Binghamton’s North Side. The first 10 tiny homes ever to be constructed in Broome County are planned for the Northside, too, in part with the county’s current build of a veterans’resource center, a one-stop-shop for all veterans’ resources. As we continue to build housing, we also believe that it’s important to improve our public infrastructure as well. This will be a record year for infrastructure development in Broome County as we are set to pave more than 84 miles of roads and to renovate seven bridges. Our Greater Binghamton Airport renovation broke ground earlier this year, with substantial funding from state and federal grants — an opportunity to undertake a much-needed renovation while minimizing local taxpayer costs. We established a project labor agreement with many of our local trades, ensuring that the work is performed by local workers. Continuing our historic parks-improvements program, the county has focused on completing two major park projects this year. In May, we celebrated the grand opening of the Greenlight Networks Grand Slam Park, the largest softball park in New York state. With four new turf fields and cutting-edge lighting, it stands as the premier destination in the Northeast for softball enthusiasts. Every weekend from May to July is fully booked with tournaments. The park was unanimously chosen as the host site for the New York state girls’ softball championships for the next three years. Grippen Park has also been under construction for some time with a completion target this fall. The entire building there is being renovated, with the addition of six new pickleball courts, and a skating rink for the winter. Renovation plans include walking paths, a basketball court, an accessible playground, a wiffle ball stadium, and a regulation-size flag football field. It sure is a great time to live in Broome County, and the progress we achieve this year will undoubtedly strengthen our community for generations to come. If you’re looking to expand your business, we would love to work with you to come right here to Broome County and be a part of this exciting chapter of growth and progress in our community.      

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Jason T. Garnar is the Broome County Executive. Contact him at county.executive@broomecountyny.gov