A former Falconer plant is one step closer to being sold to a developer.

During the recent Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency meeting, board members heard about a request for a Payment In Lieu of Taxes agreement and other financial incentives for the former Truck-Lite property, located at 310 East Elmwood Ave.

Carol Rasmussen with the county IDA said the Krog Group, LLC is looking to buy the property, renovate it and look for potential leases.

County IDA Attorney Milian Tyler said before any PILOT agreements can be put in place, there needs to be some preliminary steps, including a public hearing and other requirements.

“On this (resolution) there is some due diligence that we have to do, including the possible lease to manufacturer. We understand that’s in the works but not there yet,” he said.

The resolution also calls for the investigation of sales tax exemption.

“If there is a tenant in place when we go and approve this later on, that tenant may ask for their own sales tax letter, but if not then if Krog is going to do the renovation for a tenant, either identified or to come later, then we may give them the sales tax letters,” Tyler said.

The 145,000-square-foot industrial property has remained vacant since Truck-Lite moved its headquarters to Pennsylvania. The plant closed in 2020. A year later Truck-Lite announced it was formally moving its headquarters to Knowledge Park on the Penn State Behrend campus near Erie.

Truck-Lite was founded by George D. Baldwin in 1955 in rented quarters in Jamestown. Ground was broken at the Elmwood Avenue location in Falconer in 1966.

In 2022, the Chautauqua Region Economic Development Corp., a subsidiary of the county IDA, asked the village of Falconer to apply for a grant up to $750,000 from the Office of Community Renewal. In August, Rasmussen spoke at the Falconer Village Board about the potential grant. At the meeting she said if approved, the funds would be provided in the form of a loan to ND PressTec “in financing a portion of the machinery and equipment, furnishings, and/or working capital costs incurred in the company’s establishment of a new brass component manufacturing operation at an existing industrial facility located on East Elmwood Avenue in the village of Falconer.”

According to its website, ND PressTec is a leading partner for ammunition manufacturing for small and medium calibers. The company is based in Germany and is currently under ownership of the NAMMO Group.

Although ND PressTec could be a future tenant of the Krog Group if they were to buy the plant, neither company nor county officials have commented on the possibility of the ammunition manufacturing company setting up shop in Chautauqua County.

The Krog Group is based in Orchard Park and does construction and real estate development. Their website lists 11 properties in Western New York with space available for commercial/retail, offices, and industrial/distribution. None of the properties are in Chautauqua County, but they do have properties available in Olean and Ashford, both in Cattaraugus County. Other Western New York properties are in Erie and Wyoming counties.

The county IDA agreed to move ahead and start the process for a tax agreement with the Krog Group.

Chautauqua County lists the total assessed value of the former Truck-Lite plant at $2,350,000.