Business & Tech

Rockland IDA Closes Deal on Orangeburg Property

The Rockland Industrial Developoment reached an agreement with the pharmaceutical company Cerovene, Inc., which is purchasing the empty building at 10 Corporate Drive in Orangeburg.

Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef announced the deal Monday, pointing out that it is part of an $8 million expansion project. He said that Cerovene, which currently leases a property in Valley Cottage, plans to expand from nine employees to 75 over the next seven years. 

"In addition to the acquisition of the property, Cerovene plans to invest more than $5 million in site renovations, new equipment and other expansion costs," Vanderhoef said. "This project is another great example of how small to medium sized companies are fining Rockland County to be an attractive venue for growth largely because of the responsiveness of the county, the IDA and our towns and school districts."

According to a press release from Vanderhoef's office, the IDA has worked out tax breaks for Cerovene with the county, the Pearl River School District and the Town of Orangetown, though the town and the school district still have to approve the Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) agreement.

"It's really great news,":Orangetown Supervisor Andy Stewart said. "The IDA and the town and the school dsitrict came up with a plan for tax mitigation. They are entitled to relief on sales tax on the equipment, furniture and other stuff they are putting in there. The town benefits. The building was empty. It is a much bigger deal for school district because they have a larger budget."

Stewart said the town usually waits for the school district to approve the PILOT first, and that could take some time. The resolution is not expected to be on the Pearl River School District Board of Education meeting agenda Tuesday night. 

The IDA benefits include:

  • Exemption from 8.375 percent sales tax on up to $3.5 million in furniture, fixtures, equipment and construction/renovation materials related to the project
  • Exemption from 1.3 percent mortgage recording tax on $1.988 million in financing
  • PILOT agreement with Pearl River School District and Town of Orangetown, still pending approval by those entities.

"This project further adds to Rockland County's growing clusture of pharmaceutical companies," said IDA Executive Director Steven Porath. "While our recent major projects such as the Bloomberg Data Center, the Shops at Nanuet and Raymour & Flanigan are certainly getting plenty of media attention, the IDA is working to attract and retain and/or expand small and medium companies such as Cerovne. They are also a measure of our economic development success."

Cerovene, which is owned by Ray DiFalco and Manish Shah, was founded in 2007. The research and development company works in drug delivery technologies. creating medication that is resistant to tampering and abuse. 

"They have an interesting business," Stewart said.


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