SUNY Canton Awarded $1.3 Million New York State Grant for Canton Midtown Plaza Revitalization

Downtown project aims to create new residential, commercial spaces and an Entrepreneurship Center

SUNY Canton has been awarded a $1.3 million Empire State Development (ESD) grant toward a project that seeks to redevelop Canton’s Midtown Plaza at 19 Miner Street.

The award is part of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) Initiative, which helps drive economic development across the state. The Midtown Plaza project, which was given priority status by the North Country REDC, is a public-private partnership whose goal is to revitalize the Plaza site and create new residential and commercial space. It will also be home to a new SUNY Canton Entrepreneurship Center. 

“This funding is a big step toward realizing our vision of a facility that will bring new economic vitality and entrepreneurial activity to the heart of Canton and the entire North Country region,” said SUNY Canton President Zvi Safran. “I’d like to thank the Governor, the North Country REDC, our colleagues at ESD, and the Town and Village of Canton—especially Supervisor Mary Ann Ashley and Mayor Michael Dalton—for their support of this endeavor.”

Szafran said the proposed Entrepreneurship Center will offer research and development facilities to develop prototypes, accelerate start-up companies bringing new and innovative products and ideas to market, and provide comprehensive resources for small businesses to start up and grow. A co-working space will foster collaboration between local entrepreneurs and SUNY Canton students, faculty and staff. Affordable programming will help them refine ideas, structure business plans, conduct market research and connect them with experienced mentors to help them build and grow their companies.

Working with partners Laker Development NY, LLC and Dew Ventures, LLC, the redevelopment of the Plaza is expected to include up to 15,000 square feet of commercial space and almost 50 housing units. 

“Canton is a great community with tremendous potential,” said Devin Dal Pos of Laker Development. “This is a truly transformative project that will revitalize underutilized space and bring new live-work-play options to the center of town.”

The Canton College Foundation has played a key role in this project. Earlier this year it secured a purchase option on the vacant Midtown Plaza via one of its affiliates, Roo Riverwoods, LLC. 

The Empire State Development grant is one piece of several funding opportunities being pursued by the project’s partners, which include Canton Town and Village officials.