Enterprise West, formerly Tech City

Most people in the Town of Ulster and the County of Ulster are cheering about the prospects of Enterprise West rising from the ashes of Tech City and IBM. Since IBM, who employed 7,000 people, closed its doors in 1995 and sold it to Alan Ginsberg in 1998, the 258 acres mostly languished in batches of grand plans.  Worse, Ginsberg did not pay his taxes. Because of these tax defaults, the County now owns most of the campus west of Enterprise Drive, now called Enterprise West.  It is expected he will also default on his tax obligations on the east side of Enterprise Drive.  To be clear, IBM still has a legal presence on the campus, as evidenced from our study of protective covenants, easements, conditions and restrictions filed with the County Clerk and attached to the deed.  These restrictions are directly related to IBM’s pollution of groundwater with solvents for 40 years.  Slowly, they are still cleaning up their damage to the groundwater.  The ToUC.org has hosted many public meetings, attended by Town and County officials, over the past few years to review opportunities and make recommendations on the future of this property. Most do not want a single owner emerging from a low bidding contest that could lead to more dead ends.  The County has recently fielded over 20 solid developers interested in one or another portion of the property.