New Tenant Coming to Onondaga County’s Hancock Airpark, to Create 11 New Jobs
Cicero, N.Y. — Dunn Tire Corp. is planning to build a $5.9 million tire warehouse in Onondaga County’s Hancock Airpark, a development that brings the industrial park at the former Hancock Air Force Base closer to completion.
Buffalo-based Dunn plans to construct a 62,500-square-foot warehouse on a 5-acre site on Stewart Drive. Dunn said it will replace a smaller distribution facility on Steelway Boulevard in Clay that no longer meets its needs.
The company said its lease on its Steelway Boulevard location expires on Aug. 31, so it needs to begin construction on the new facility soon.
The new facility will employ 50 people, 11 more than the current one in Clay, according to the company.
The company said the facility will distribute tires to car dealers, service stations and other customers.
The $5.9 million includes $300,330 that Dunn will pay the county for the land.
The Onondaga County Industrial Development agency voted last month to approve $572,325 in tax breaks for the Dunn warehouse. The breaks consist of $284,900 in property tax discounts over 10 years, $250,000 in sales tax abatements on construction materials and $37,425 in state mortgage recording tax.
Dunn said in its application to the agency that the tax breaks will help to offset higher construction costs due to extreme price increases for steel and other building materials caused by pandemic-related supply chain interruptions.
Built during World War II as a bomber base, Hancock Air Force Base became a military communications center during the Cold War. It closed in 1984.
The federal government turned over much of the 425-acre site off East Taft Road to Onondaga County in 1987. The county renamed it Hancock Airpark and has been slowly redeveloping it into an industrial park ever since.
Robert Petrovich, the county’s economic development director, said redevelopment of the base will be nearly complete with the construction of the Dunn warehouse. There are only a couple of more parcels left to develop, he said.
Sixteen companies, employing more than 750 people, call the park home. They include Air Innovations, G.A. Braun Inc., Gaylord Brothers, ICM Controls, Jadak Technologies and Syracuse Label.
The city of Syracuse acquired the former site of the base’s military housing on the eastern section of the property in 1999. The long-abandoned housing, consisting of 85 buildings with more than 200 apartments, was demolished in 2014.
The Federal Aviation Administration recently agreed to let the city redevelop the former military housing land for non-aeronautical use. The Syracuse Regional Airport Authority, which operates nearby Syracuse Hancock International Airport for the city, has not yet developed plans for the land.
Read more:
Tour Cicero’s military ghost town (photos)
Cicero’s military ghost town is now history
Cold War-era command center that once guarded the nation up for sale in Cicero
Rick Moriarty covers business news and consumer issues. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact him anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148
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