Developer David Cordish wants to donate the Rainbow Center to NCCC for its Culinary Institute and Tourism program. (Rainbow Center). At first glance, that sounds great. However, there are some implications that need to be considered:
  • the property would come off the tax rolls
  • NCCC would become responsible for the maintenance, which runs Cordish about $400,000 annually
  • NCCC only needs about 1/3 of the space in the building. What happens to the rest of it?
  • How will this impact NCCC students who will need to take regular college courses as well as courses located at the Culinary Institute?
  • Is this the first step in creating a secondary NCCC campus? If so, is that feasible or desirable? Might it not be better to investigate whether this could redeveloped into a new campus and the Sanborn campus sold?
This property is said to be worth millions, but it has stood virtually empty for 10-15 years, and Kordish has not been successful in doing anything much with it in recent years. It seems to me that that kind of building really isn't "worth millions" at all. Look at the Statler in Buffalo -- maybe in NYC or Philly it's worth millions but here in Buffalo, it's worth about $750,000 -- and even that sale may fall through. That says to me that the Rainbow Center is not nearly as valuable as Kordish and others claim. Is this just a scam to stick NCCC with a white elephant while getting the developer fat tax breaks for his "donation".