Statement from City Manager Rachael Tabelski:
I have been told that the campus has sold, and I am very excited to learn about the new owners plans for redevelopment on the campus.
The Harvester Campus is a 29 acre campus with over 800,000 SF of distressed and underutilized industrial/commercial space and buildings that are in varying conditions of use.
It has been owned by the Mancuso Business Development Group since 1959. As of 2019 there were 71 active businesses utilizing 222,000 SF and employing 210 daily workers. These numbers may have shifted in the last two years, but this site is a major hub for employment and has so much potential.
I have personally worked with the previous owner of the campus for many years in hopes of redevelopment of this brownfield historical campus and am in awe of the sheer dedication and perseverance of Tom Mancuso to keep this campus going throughout the years. I wish him all the best in his future pursuits.
The City of Batavia and Batavia Development Corporation (BDC) has been a catalyst on different projects on the campus over the years including Masse Place re-development through a Restore New York Grant, designating the campus as a Brownfield Opportunity Area (BOA) site through the New York Department of State, a Feasibility Study for re-development funded by New York State Empire State Development, as well as the designation of the campus in a Federally recognized Opportunity Zone.
I can’t wait to learn what the new ownership will do to revitalize the historic campus, and look forward to meeting with the new ownership in the near future.