Press release
BATAVIA, NEW YORK – The City of Batavia is working with the Batavia Development Corporation (BDC) to apply to New York State for a second Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) grant.
Governor Hochul and State Legislative leaders have ensured that New York Cities can continue to grow their tax base and business by championing the DRI grant program.
The City was a recipient of a DRI in 2018 and have completed seven (7) out of eight (8)
transformational projects in the core of downtown Batavia.
“Without the Governor, the Department of State, and Empire State Development the
City of Batavia would not have seen such a dramatic transformation from a fledgling
downtown into a flurry of investment; sparking retail, commercial and residential progress.
The DOS Brownfield Opportunity Area program gave Batavia the blueprint to focus
investment on contaminated and underutilized sites. The DRI added the funding to move
these projects from the planning stage to construction and completion.
The City is ready to extend this winning combination and apply for another DRI grant with a new project
boundary,” said Rachael J. Tabelski, City Manager, Batavia.
Over $75 Million of investment by the private sector was matched to the $10M grant
funds to make major improvements in the City.
DRI 1.0 Grant Projects
- City View Residences
- Healthy Living Campus/YMCA
- Carr’s Department Store
- Main Street Theater 56
- Building Improvement Fund
- Jackson Square
- City Centre Improvement Project
- Savarino
One of the primary goals of the DRI was to identify projects that are catalytic, leverage
additional private and public funding and are ready to move from planning to construction.
Batavia’s first DRI Steering Committee recommended 16 final projects ready for investment
and New York State choose the top 8 projects for funding.
“The DRI program was a tremendous success in the City of Batavia providing our
citizens with new opportunities for recreation, arts, culture, entertainment and housing. I’m
thrilled to work on new opportunities for investment in the City,” said Eugene Jankowski
Jr., City Council President.
The City and the BDC continue to assist and incentivize many new projects across the
City, however, there are many more projects that are ready to spur more economic
development, building revitalization, and housing construction with grant assistance that a
DRI award could provide.
“The BDC continually pairs properties and building owners with grants and incentives
to drive investment and business development in the City. Since the first successful
execution of the DRI program there has been an increase in developer interest within the
City. New projects that qualify for the DRI 2.0 will continue to boost the quality of life in
our City,” said Tammy Hathaway, Executive Director of the BDC.