{"id":62138,"date":"2025-02-25T09:39:55","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T14:39:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/?p=62138"},"modified":"2025-02-25T09:39:55","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T14:39:55","slug":"batavia-partners-close-on-jc-penney-building-next-step-is-to-fix-leaky-roof","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2025\/02\/25\/batavia-partners-close-on-jc-penney-building-next-step-is-to-fix-leaky-roof\/","title":{"rendered":"BATAVIA\/Partners close on JC Penney building; next step is to fix leaky roof"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By Mike Pettinella
For Video News Service<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Entrepreneurs Matt Gray and Matt Boyd on Monday morning closed on the purchase of the former JC Penney property that is connected to the City Centre — 40 days after purchasing the building for $175,000 at an auction at the Genesee County Courts Facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gray, a Batavian, and Boyd, who resides in North Carolina, are co-owners of Eli Fish Brewery on Main Street in the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contacted on Tuesday morning, Gray said he has inspected the interior of the building, noting that the main problem areas are with the roof.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are, after going through it, several leaks in the roof that we will need to take care of,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd then we’re planning on doing some general condition surveying through it. But overall, the building looks to be in good shape.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked what was left inside of the 38,524-square foot structure, Gray said, \u201cThere\u2019s no merchandise, but it appears that most of the shelving and racking are still in the building.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reiterating what he said at the auction on Jan. 16, Gray mentioned that he and Boyd had no particular vision for the building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe did not have a plan in place, other than we know that that space should be filled. We would be hopeful that we could find a retailer that would take all of it,\u201d he said. \u201cBut realistically, we expect that we’ll have to subdivide it in order to get smaller tenants.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gray said he has not talked to any possible tenants yet but he and Boyd \u201care working with an architectural firm out of North Carolina to come up with some potential ideas for the future of the property.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut for now, our main goal is just to stabilize the property and make sure that the roof is sound and that no damage is occurring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As far as suggestions from the public on what to put in there, Gray declined to give any specifics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to pass on that one,\u201d he said. \u201cI would say that most of the suggestions that we’re given were by social media comments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gray said he hasn\u2019t ruled out placing apartments on top of the one-story building, but nothing is definite at this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As previously reported, the property at 40 City Centre is zoned commercial has been vacant since 2020 after JCPenney closed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was purchased in 2021 for $500,000 by Yong Guang Ye of California but was foreclosed on with a lien of $179,141 attached to the property along with back taxes, school taxes and back water bills.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Mike PettinellaFor Video News Service Entrepreneurs Matt Gray and Matt Boyd on Monday morning closed on the purchase of the former JC Penney property that is connected to the City Centre — 40 days after purchasing the building for $175,000 at an auction at the Genesee County Courts Facility. \u2026<\/p>\n

Continue reading<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":62139,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4705],"tags":[4926,4927,1331],"class_list":["post-62138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-city-of-batavia","tag-jc-penney","tag-matt-boud","tag-matt-gray"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8eTP4-gae","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":65590,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2025\/06\/24\/batavia-city-council-backs-500000-grant-to-repurpose-continental-building-group-of-six-ready-to-roll\/","url_meta":{"origin":62138,"position":0},"title":"BATAVIA\/City Council backs $500,000 grant to repurpose Continental building; Group of six \u2018ready to roll\u2019","author":"aka","date":"June 24, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"BY MIKE PETTINELLAFor Video News Service The Batavia City Council on Monday night agreed to support the Batavia Development Corporation\u2019s application for a $500,000 grant to redevelop the vacant Continental School of Beauty building at 215 East Main St., right next door to the new Healthy Living Campus facility. 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