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An undeveloped 657-acre site on Route 5, Sheridan will be studied to see if it is good for future development.
During the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency Board of Directors meeting, Economic Development Coordinator Nate Aldrich stated that National Grid has awarded the IDA $500,000 from the company's Strategic Economic Development Outreach Program for the promotion of the Eagle Bay Shovel Ready Development Project. Eagle Bay is what the 657-acre property is called.
Previously the county IDA was awarded a $675,000 grant by Empire State Development.
"What this means is we're now fully funded with the total program budget of $1.35 million of which the IDA county's share is going to be less than 10%," he said.
Aldrich said they're going to start a two-phase environmental and site due diligence "to see if there's any deal breakers that would prohibit us from taking a harder look at developing the site."
The property is owned by Steve St. George and is currently zoned as recreational land.
Once the initial environmental studies are complete, Aldrich said they will look at "development readiness work," which would include things like a traffic study, noise impact, infrastructure analysis and more.
For the last few years, Chautauqua County has been working on readying a shovel-ready site in Ripley near I-90. That work is expected to be completed in the first half of 2027.
The county has been seeking and been awarded millions of dollars in grant funds to develop the shovel-ready site. They note developers prefer shovel-ready sites when looking to start or relocate manufacturing plants, warehouse facilities or commercial labs.
Officials said because they take so long to develop, they wanted to start now to get another one going before the Ripley site is full.
Aldrich said he predicts it will take 18 to 24 months before these two environmental study phases for Eagle Bay are completed.
County Executive PJ Wendel said during his 2026 State of the County address, this site has a potential to be the largest shovel-ready site in the entire state.