by Kristina Gabalski
Community-oriented developer Greg O’Connell had plenty of advice for Brockport residents and business owners during an economic development seminar held March 28 at the Middle School Auditorium.
O’Connell is president of the O’Connell Organization and is credited with the re-birth of the business district along Main Street in the Village of Mt. Morris. He graduated from SUNY Geneseo in 1964 and is also well-known for similar work he has done to revitalize the Red Hook historic district in Brooklyn, in his native New York City.
Brockport Mayor Connie Castaneda invited O’Connell and Livingston County Development Corporation Downtown Coordinator Louise Wadsworth to come to Brockport and speak about their work.
“People across the country want to take back their main streets,” O’Connell said.
Both he and Wadsworth detailed the transformation of buildings in Mt. Morris with the help of a $400,000 New York State Main Street Grant between the fall of 2008 and the spring of 2011.
O’Connell owns 20 buildings in Mt. Morris and has also purchased buildings in the Village of Dansville.
Wadsworth said as a result of the Main Street Grant program, 12 buildings in Mt. Morris were renovated; 15 commercial spaces were completed; 17 residential units were established; $30,000 in street scape improvements were completed and over $600,000 in private investments were made.
O’Connell stressed the importance of developing complimentary businesses and talking to all parts of the community – churches, schools, local government and civic groups. “You have to listen to every part of the community,” he said. “We went to all different organizations because we wanted them to have input. The community really pushed me – it’s just been great,” he said.
Wadsworth described a 10-week micro-enterprise class held by the Livingston County Development Corporation for people interested in starting up a business in Mt. Morris. “Four businesses came from that class,” she said.
“The class is excellent,” O’Connell noted. “At the end of the course you have a business plan which qualifies you for a loan of up to $50,000.”
O’Connell also stressed the importance of obtaining tax abatements. “I think upstate was sleeping (while New York City) took advantage (of abatements),” he said. He said abatements help to jump-start development and “allow me to pass off savings to the store owner.”
He says most of his tenants pay $300/month in rent.
Wadsworth said one of the goals of the transformation/restoration was “to bring buildings back to the way they were (originally) designed.” Paint has been removed from original brick; transoms over store windows, woodwork and upper-level windows have all been restored to their original appearance, for example.
Pedestrian-friendly perpendicular signage is encouraged and merchants strive to remain open seven days a week during the same hours. When stores are closed for the night, lights are left on in shop windows and merchants are required to change their window displays seasonally, four times each year.
Both O’Connell and Wadsworth said nearby SUNY Geneseo has been a great resource. “That’s something you could definitely do here,” Wadsworth noted.
The transformation/renovation work in Mt. Morris has created more than 30 jobs and boosted sales tax revenue, the speakers said. There are still storefronts to fill and work to be done, O’Connell and Wadsworth said.
“When you see more people walking on Main Street at night, then you know we made it,” O’Connell says.
Brockport Merchants Association President Josephine Matela attended the seminar. She called O’Connell “wonderful. Greg is right on.”
Matela noted that Brockport is fortunate in one respect because it doesn’t have empty storefronts. “But you need to maintain a healthy mix of retail, restaurants and services,” she said.
Brockport Trustees Margaret Blackman and Carol Hannan attended the seminar. The two serve as economic development co-liaisons to the village board and Hannan also serves as village board liaison to the Merchants Association.
She said she enjoyed the presentation. “This village has so much potential,” Hannan said.
