Crossroads Business Park on Decker Drive in the town of Johnstown, Monday, April 1, 2024.

The price of a long-vacant parcel in a Gloversville industrial park just got a whole lot cheaper after receiving little interest from buyers.

Members of the Fulton County Industrial Development Agency last week voted unanimously to drop the listing price of a 25-acre parcel at the IDA-owned Crossroad Business Park from the current $550,000 to $375,000. The property was originally listed at $595,000 more than a year and a half ago.

The move, first discussed last month, follows a request from Realtor Colleen Ioele-DeCristofaro, whom the IDA contracted to list the property.

Ioele-DeCristofaro said she has shown the property to 24 different developers and received around eight “semi-serious inquiries,” including four that expressed a more serious interest in developing the vacant land for a housing development.

“But they all kind of come to a dead end,” she told the board during its Sept. 9 meeting.

The IDA acquired two parcels that make up the business park in 2005 for just over $65,000, according to county property records, and has been seeking to sell the land to support a housing development in recent years.

Ioele-DeCristofaro said developers who have looked at the parcel have expressed interest in moving forward with developing single-family homes, but have all expressed concerns about the price of the property.

Ioele-DeCristofaro explained that she believes the property was initially listed at a price too high for the Gloversville market, noting data shows that similar properties in the market are selling for around $11,500 per acre. The business park property was previously listed at around $21,000 per acre.

She said she originally recommended listing the property between $250,000 and $300,000, but was rebuffed by IDA leadership at the time, who instead paid for an appraisal that Ioele-DeCristofaro said relied on data for markets outside of Gloversville.

“It was a great appraisal and I’m sure you paid a lot of money for it, but in all reality, none of the comparables that were used were Fulton County comparables,” Ioele-DeCristofaro said. “It was Greene County, Saratoga County. There were location adjustments made, but I don’t think it was significant enough, in my opinion, but I’m not a commercial appraiser.”

Some board members initially expressed hesitation in reducing the price, but ultimately came around.

“Are we looking to maximize a profit or are we looking to facilitate development?” asked Dave D’Amore, who has been on the board since 2015.

Ioele-DeCristofaro said the land still needs to be graded and subdivided, which adds costs for developers.

“If we’re serious about getting this developed, we need to get serious about pricing,” said Susan Collins, the IDA’s chair.

Contact reporter Chad Arnold at: carnold@dailygazette.net or by calling 518-410-5117.

An employee stands on a slow moving platform and pick apples from a row of apple trees at Bowman Orchards in Rexford on Sept. 9.

A trio of apple pickers walk along the road among the rows of pick your own apple trees at Bowman Orchards in Rexford, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025.

Grab your pumpkin spice latte and get ready, because apple and pumpkin growers are prepared for a big season this fall.

“We have a good crop,” said Kenny Bowman of Bowman Orchards in Rexford. “I mean, the weather was really good. It was a hot summer ... the apples growing want the heat, but this time of year they want the cool nights.”

He said apples get their color and flavor from the cooler temperatures at night.

“If it’s really hot, they don’t color up as nice,” Bowman said. “They kind of look orangey, but now with the cool nights, they actually get nice and like ruby red.”

It also makes them juicier, he said.

Bowman Orchards is open for apple picking every day from now until Halloween. Bowman said there are 65 kinds available at the 100-acre orchard, each........

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