National developer eyeing 245 acres at Malta tech campus

Categories: News, Saratoga County

MALTA & STILLWATER — Most of the vast Luther Forest Technology Campus has remained open for more than a decade, even though GlobalFoundries built its $13 billion Fab 8 semiconductor foundry — a project that has transformed Saratoga County — there.

But now a nationally known real estate developer wants to buy 245 acres and invest up to $250 million over the next few years in a complex of large supply chain or manufacturing buildings.

Scannell Properties of Indianapolis wants to acquire land in the heart of the campus, where experimental rocket fuel was tested in the decades after World War II. Potentially, Scannell’s interest could mean $250 million in investment in several new companies coming to the site, and create 2,500 jobs.

“There are really significant job numbers,” said Malta Town Board member Tim Dunn, chairman of the town’s Economic Development Committee. “This is what the technology park was envisioned for. This is what the millions in water, sewer and electric infrastructure was put in for.”

The Town Board on Nov. 5 received a Power Point presentation from a Scannell representative, and town officials said they expect the company to be applying for whatever zoning amendments are necessary within the next couple of months.

Scannell Properties has done a number of large developments for major companies across the United States, including the Amazon regional distribution center that opened in Schodack in September.

Supply chain and distribution and light industrial uses are among the possibilities for the Luther Forest site, Dunn said, with development expected to occur over a five-year period. The company hopes to start work next year, according to the presentation.

Scannell Properties on Thursday confirmed its plans and that a purchase was being negotiated, while releasing few details. It is working with the Luther Forest Technology Campus Economic Development Corp. and Saratoga County Industrial Development Agency, it said. The EDC owns the land, while the IDA could grant incentives for new investment and job creation.

“An initial informal conversation regarding conceptual plans has taken place within the towns of Stillwater and Malta,” a statement from Scannell said. “Formal presentations to both town boards are occurring in November. We will share more information when the deal is complete.”

The land being considered by Scannell includes the former General Electric rocket fuel and Wright-Malta weapons testing site, which was active from just after World War II until the 1990s. It is a known brownfield due to industrial soil contamination, though it has been through a federal Superfund cleanup. If the plans go forward, much of the site would be paved — in effect, sealing any remaining contamination underground, which town officials said would reduce the risk of human exposure.

Under the proposal, one building per year would be constructed, each costing…