Renewed Effort to Find New Use for Endicott Plaza

The former Kmart building in Endicott on November 14, 2016. [Bob Joseph/WNBF News][/caption]

The owner of the idled Endicott Plaza is working with village officials to try to restore the property to some use.

Endicott Mayor John Bertoni during a "Binghamton Now" radio interview. [Bob Joseph/WNBF News][/caption]

For decades, the plaza was home to a mix of large and small businesses on a parcel between Vestal and Harrison avenues.

A restaurant and several shops once occupied the eastern portion of the plaza but that section was torn down about 15 years ago. A Kmart store continued to operate at the site until it was closed by the massive flooding of September 2011.

Endicott Mayor John Bertoni said he's been having conversations with the owners in an effort to develop a constructive plan for the sprawling property.

Speaking on WNBF Radio's Binghamton Now program, Bertoni said he'd like to see the site used for a "series of ballparks" if no users can be found for the former Kmart building.

The mayor said he would like to be able to work with the Broome County Land Bank or the Industrial Development Agency to come up with a productive business use for the property.

Rick Roccesano, a representative of the New Jersey-based property owner, said the old building's structural condition is "fine." He said there is 100,000-square-feet of usable space in the building.

Roccesano said he's "open to ideas" for developing new uses for the dormant property.

Bertoni said he wrote to officials with the Union-Endicott School District, the Town of Union and Broome County to let them know of the site's availability. He said, so far, no one has expressed an interest in the property.

A building on the east side of the Endicott Plaza had been removed before the 2011 flood. [Bob Joseph/WNBF News][/caption]

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