City of Batavia to receive $10 million from NYS

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the City of Batavia will receive $10 million in funding and investments as the Finger Lakes winner of the second round of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI). As in the first round of the DRI, one municipality from each of the state's 10 regional economic development regions will be selected as a $10 million winner, marking another overall state goal to target $100 million in funding and investments to help communities identify catalytic downtown projects to boost the local economy.   

"This $10 million award will help attract jobs, spur private investment and transform Batavia's downtown into a vibrant, diverse and economically active business and cultural center," Governor Cuomo said. "By investing in the unique strengths of local communities, we are driving economic resurgence and continuing to move the Finger Lakes forward."  

The Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council went through a competitive review process of proposals from communities throughout the region and considered eight criteria before recommending Batavia as its nominee for winner:  

• The downtown should be compact, with well-defined boundaries;
• The municipality, or the downtown's catchment area, should be of sufficient size to support a vibrant, year-round downtown;
• The downtown is able to capitalize on prior or catalyze future private and public investment in the neighborhood and its surrounding areas;
• There should be recent or impending job growth within, or in close proximity to the downtown that can attract workers to the downtown, support redevelopment and make growth sustainable;
• The downtown must be an attractive and livable community for diverse populations of all ages, including existing residents, millennials and skilled workers;

• The municipality should already embrace or have the ability to create and implement policies that increase livability and quality of life, including the use of local land banks, modern zoning codes and parking standards, complete streets plans, energy efficient projects, green jobs, and transit-oriented development;
• The municipality should have conducted an open and robust community engagement process resulting in a vision for downtown revitalization and a preliminary list of projects and initiatives that may be included in a DRI strategic investment plan; and

• The municipality has identified transformative projects that will be ready for implementation with an infusion of DRI funds within the first one to two years.

 

Batavia's second-round DRI win entitles it to receive $10 million in state funding and investments to revitalize its downtown neighborhoods and generate new opportunities for long-term growth. Batavia now joins the City of Geneva, which was the Finger Lakes region's winner in the first DRI round.