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PEEKSKILL, NY James Slaughter, the citys new Director od Economic Development, just finished his third month in the job and has hit the ground running.
Slaughters job is to help bring businesses into the city, and said the city is taking multi-pronged approach to do just that.
The city just created a DVD video that profiles the city which can be sent to potential businesses and developers. The video is also available for viewing on YouTube.
Slaughter said he and city staff been going to business conferences for recruitment of three levels: looking for retailers for the downtown, looking for developers, particularly for 9 Corporate Drive and Lower South Street, and also looking for specialty businesses such as boutique stores for the downtown area.
Weve met with a lot of developers and a lot of retailers and provided them with a lot of demographic and market information that came from our retail study, trying to eventually entice these folks so that we go out for an RFP on these sites we can get some developers that are capable of doing a project, Slaughter said.
On Lower South Street, where there are about 25 acres available for development, Slaughter said he could see some kind of mixed use retail and commercial development
The space at 1719 Main Street where a burned-down shopping center once sat is also a priority development, as is a large open space that sits beside a commercial office building at One Park Place, he said. Slaughter said that lot has been already zoned for mixed use.
Slaughter said that in the downtown the city wants to see smaller specialty businesses that compliment the burgeoning arts and restaurant scene.
Part of our goal is to mix in retail so that if someone is going to dinner at night and theyre not going to the Paramount that we give them choices, Slaughter said. You increase activity downtown by giving people more choices, like a small clothing store that sits next to a restaurant, particularly as you get warmer weather you have people strolling around it gets more attractive.
Slaughter said that the Business Improvement District, or BID, which is funded through taxes paid by downtown businesses, will also continue to play a big part in the citys development. The BID has just hired a new executive director, Jason Angell, and Slaughter said the city would be looking to do joint marketing initiatives with the bid.
The city has been successful with attracting an older audience to the city with its dining and arts offerings, and Slaughter said the city was also starting to bring in younger crowds thanks to establishments like the Peekskill Brewery, The Birdsall House and The Peekskill Coffee House. He said the new Paramount Center director Lisa Reiss was also looking to attract a younger audience.
We also have to look at entertainment for the 16-26 year old crowd, because thats certainly a section of the population thats hanging out here and looking to do something, Slaughter said.
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