Oval Wood Dish development site on Stec visit tomorrow
by Dan McClelland
Senator Dan Stec is expected to tour various sites in the community alongside local officials tomorrow.
According to Mayor Paul Maroun the newly elected senator will be joining him and others here in his first official tour of Tupper as Senator Betty Little’s successor.
Part of the day’s agenda includes an afternoon meeting with Joseph Gehm and his partners in the Syracuse-based Lahinch Group to discuss their plans for the residential and commercial development of the vacant and former Oval Wood Dish Corp. building complex on Demars Blvd.
Mr. Maroun announced last week that the investors just closed on the purchase of the former industrial complex from Norman Bobrow and Associates, the New York City firm which also owns the former Ames Plaza next door.
The Lahinch Group bills itself as a “real estate company with core principles focused on clients’ needs, community investment and partnerships that help preserve the fabric of of neighborhoods we call home.”
According to its web site, Lahinch was founded as a development company and has since grown to take on property management and brokerage services in the Upstate New York market. “At its core Lahinch Group strives to provides its clients, tenants and investors a seamless and transparent experience from concept to completion.”
It was founded by Joseph Gehm after working for over a decade in the financial services industry.
Mayor Maroun has been working with Mr. Gehm and his partners on trying to redevelop the former industrial site in the center of the village for the past several years.
“These are some talented young guys who have great things planned there,” he said yesterday.
What the Lahinch Group is planning there will include residential units and commercial space, the mayor said yesterday.
The residential portion will include what are called “blended income” apartment for families of all incomes, as well as more upscale “market apartments,” the mayor told the Free Press Monday. Retail shops will also be a piece of the development.
The company has apparently done successful developments in both Utica and Syracuse, where it developed “Franklin Square.”
Senator Stec is also planning to make a stop to see the campus director at Sunmount DDSO, Kim Higgins.