AMSTERDAM — In the city’s struggle to lure businesses that would provide much needed tax relief to its residents one thing might be missing. Land.

“I’ve said this over and over again. Land is a problem in the city because they are not making any more of it,” Amsterdam Industrial Development Agency Director Frank Valiante said.

Montgomery County Economic Development and Planning Director Ken Rose said the trend for the last decade with companies is business-park-type space.

“They like single-story space, which spreads out their building footprint as well,” Rose said.

The city has one developed industrial park on Edson Street with larger businesses, such as Fiberglass Industries, AGT Services and Breton Industries, but there is little room left for large-scale development.

AIDA is marketing the land adjacent to the old Mohasco Mill as the Mohasco Technology Park. Valiante said besides the old mill building on the site, there could be space for a 20,000-square-foot building on the land, with enough room for parking and green space.

“It would be a very nice piece of property there with the creek and everything,” he said.

Of course, with that area, AIDA needs to be selective about the type of business that occupies the area.

“If you put a business next to a residential area that has 150 trucks per day that’ll be tough, but three to five trucks per day that’s not so bad,” Valiante said.

David Buicko, chief operating officer for the Galesi Group, a prominent Capital Region development company, said the importance of land in development depends on what you’re developing.

Large scale developments, such Alpin Haus, the K-Mart Plaza and others on Route 30, need a lot of land. Same goes for Beech Nut and the Target Distribution Center in Florida.

And office complexes can be hard to build in urban areas because of the need for parking, Buicko said. Generally the rule is between four and five spaces per 1,000 square feet of office building.

While many officials say marketing Amsterdam as a bedroom community for tech valley is the way to revitalize the small city, new home development is scarce.

developer’s view

Republican Assemblyman George Amedore, owner of Amedore Homes, recently finished a project to build 56 condominium units on Wallins Corners Road.

The maintenance-free neighborhood appeals to Amsterdam’s aging community, and only six units are left, he said.

Amedore said he thinks developers are interested in building outside the city because “things are new.”

“What the city hasn’t done in years upon years, is they haven’t invested in updating infrastructure. They haven’t invested in updating roads, sidewalks, curbs and they haven’t gotten strict with code enforcement to keep properties looking pretty,” he said, adding that there is plenty of money out there for infrastructure updates.

Amedore, who is building five neighborhoods in Saratoga County, said the availability of land is not the only thing that attracts developers. “Growth comes not just because you offer attractive land. There is a lot of land in Montgomery County that is shovel-ready to build on, but what else is there to attract the developer?”

A municipality’s willingness to work with the developer to expedite the approval process is helpful, as are low taxes, Amedore said.

Taxes in Saratoga County are lower than in Montgomery County, Amadore said, which means he can get more houses and more development for his money.

Besides that, he said, there is a lot happening in Saratoga County to attract development.

“They are a forward-thinking county, with a forward-thinking Board of Supervisors,” he said. “They are focused on improving infrastructure and creating job growth. Businesses are moving into the county, which attracts home builders.”

Amedore said Amsterdam has a lot of “richness” that could lure developers to the area, including good proximity to major arteries, recreational amenities, cultural, historical and other quality of life assets.

Valiante said the lack of land is not stopping AIDA from doing its job.

He said the agency has a close relationship with a variety of landowners who could lease their property to a business owner if one was interested.

common goals

He said although the city may not have the necessary land for large scale developments like Beech Nut or distribution centers, what’s good for the county is also good for the city.

“Whether the county IDA gets something close to the city or not, in the long run it helps everyone in the county and that goes the other way around,” he said.

Rose said the way cities are revitalizing is by offering amenities to nearby employees.

“Normally there are business parks in the suburbs and employees go to the city for their shopping, bars and eating,” Rose said.

He said financial and other professional office businesses do work in cities because professional people like to work in a multicultural atmosphere where they are close to various resources. He said office developments often lead to a healthy tax base.

The Galesi Group is instrumental to the re-development of downtown State Street in Schenectady. Buicko pointed out Amsterdam’s availability of spaces to reuse.

“Amsterdam could take a look at some of the things that work in Schenectady,” Buicko said.

Daniel DiRossi, chairman of the AIDA board said he sees the fact that Amsterdam has little land to develop as a challenge, but said it is one the agency will overcome.

“Some businesses need more land than we have, so we work with the town and with the county. We have a common goal and that’s to better the whole area,” DiRossi said.