OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen Wavepoint, which rents a warehouse in the Chadwick Bay Industrial Park, is buying the building and upgrading it to become a logistics hub.

A warehouse company, which has been renting space in the northern end of the county, is moving ahead to buy the building so it can upgrade it, which will create another two dozen jobs, following action by a county agency.

At the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency meeting this week, the Board of Directors approved tax break incentives for the $6 million project to move forward.

Wavepoint is headquartered in North East, Pa., with local operations in Fredonia and the Chadwick Bay Industrial Park in the town of Sheridan. Company officials said they plan to acquire and upgrade a 121,450 square foot existing warehouse and logistics hub, located at 3565 Chadwick Drive, in order to improve and expand its operations. In addition, Wavepoint has purchased an option on adjoining land to potentially expand the facility to take advantage of its rail access.

According to company representatives, this acquisition and expansion will not affect Wavepoint’s current operation in Fredonia, but will support the company’s overall growth, thereby helping it meet customer demand across the northeastern United States.

Wavepoint currently employs 64 individuals in the north county. As a result of the project, an additional 20 new permanent jobs will be created within three years, along with approximately five temporary construction jobs.

To support the $6 million capital investment, the IDA approved a 10-year Payment In Lieu Of Taxes agreement, providing a partial reduction on the increased assessment of the property resulting from the investment, along with a sales tax abatement and mortgage tax exemption. The PILOT agreement will require real property tax payments to the affected taxing jurisdiction, over the life of the project, in an amount of $860,595.

Wavepoint officials previously said they do “transloading” in Sheridan and Fredonia, where they take a load of product and place it in smaller consumer-grade containers, like orange juice, grape juice or fruit punch. The products they transload locally are food based.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Matthew Reichert, an attorney with Wavepoint, said they’re ready to start the upgrade work of the building immediately. “We currently occupy the building as a tenant. There are modernizations that we would like to do – electrical things, installing forklifts, chargers, beginning to kind of utilize the property into a more suitable use for us,” he said.

After the vote, IDA Board Chairman Gary Henry expressed the board’s excitement for the project. “We look forward to seeing all the improvements that you make and hopefully can continue to grow beyond that,” he said.

In a statement after the vote, IDA Chief Executive Officer Mark Geise praised the expansion. “This project is a great example of identifying an existing property in the County and upgrading it for an established business that is committed to staying here and providing additional jobs for our residents,” he said. “Wavepoint selected this property not only because of its direct access to the adjacent railroad, but also because it views our local labor force as ‘second to none.’ We are pleased to assist them in making this project a reality.”

County Executive PJ Wendel agreed. “This is another example of how the County and CCIDA are continuously working to preserve existing jobs and create new ones for our residents,” he said. “We are also very thankful to Wavepoint for making a major investment in our county, illustrating the faith they have in our local workforce.”

With the action by the IDA Board of Directors, Wavepoint can begin acquisition and renovation of the property, with a goal of completing the project by the end of this summer.