By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
ELLICOTTVILLE — Olean Union Sales Corp. submitted a request Tuesday to the Cattaraugus County Industrial Development Agency for tax breaks for a 6,000-square foot addition to its South Union Street facility.
Steve Blaske, owner of Olean Union Sales Corp., 426 S. Union St., a family-owned Olean business since 1919, said in the application the addition will be built on a site to the north of the store/warehouse where two vacant houses are in the process of being demolished.
The building materials supplier plans to finance the expansion through High Point Federal Credit Union, Olean.
The new building will be largely used for a design center and pre-assembly area, said Corey Wiktor, IDA executive director.
Blaske said the $750,000 project is expected to start in April and be completed by Jan. 1, 2026. The company is seeking $66,000 in sales tax exemptions, a $8,750 mortgage recording fee exemption and an unspecified 10-year payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement.
The application said after the project is completed, employment will increase from 11 full-time and three-part-time employees to 15 or 16 full-time employees.
The annual payroll is projected to increase to $840,000.
The IDA board took no action on Tuesday. Blaske, the owner, plans to attend the February IDA meeting to outline the plans, Wiktor said.
The IDA received a second application seeking tax breaks from a Cheektowaga developer who plans a unique $10.5 million landscape hotel — 30 1,000-square foot structures built with privacy and the landscape in mind.
Developer Jake Creely of Creely Construction/Hidden Gems Family Resorts said the design of the individual short term rental structures will fit into the geography of the 10.6-acre site. It will be unique, he said.
The big selling point will be the experience and privacy of the landscape hotel as well as the destination just outside the four-season resort village of Ellicottville, Creely said. More than half of visitors are expected from the Buffalo area. Other visitors are expected from Ohio, Pennsylvania and Toronto.
The site is located at 6070 Route 242 in the town of Mansfield. There is currently a building on the site used as a short-term rental property. Each property would have a sauna and hot tub. Walkways to the buildings would be heated to eliminate the need for shoveling.
“It’s a new trend in lodging,” Wiktor said. Three full time and two part-time jobs are expected with an annual payroll of about $200,000, according to the application. The sales tax exemption is valued at $680,000, but no final mortgage tax exemption or value of a 14-year PILOT was listed.
Construction costs are listed at $8.5 million and the cost of the property was $2 million.
The developer would like to start in March or April, with an eight-month construction window, Wiktor said.
Besides the jobs, the landscape hotel would generate both sales tax and a bed tax for Cattaraugus County.
