RACER Trust announces sale of Massena GM property, no details on buyer

Thomas Graser, Watertown Daily Times, N.Y.
·1 min read

Jun. 18—MASSENA — An agreement has been reached to sell the former General Motors property in Massena.

RACER Trust (Revitalizing Auto Communities Environmental Response) released a statement Friday announcing the proposed sale, with very few details.

"The proposed reuse would create significant new jobs and other benefits for the community, including a substantial increase in the tax base," the statement from the trust reads.

The trust cited the competitive nature of business for not releasing any more information.

"While we understand and appreciate the community's interest in the redevelopment and reuse of the property, it is important for competitive business reasons that we maintain confidentiality about the prospect and its proposed reuse of the property," the Trust said in its statement.

GM operated in Massena from 1959 to 2009.

The company announced plans in 2007 to close its Massena Powertrain plant, which has since been torn down. Since the plant's closure in 2009, RACER Trust assumed ownership of the property through a 2011 bankruptcy settlement and began a cleanup and remediation under the oversight of the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

The 217-acre site is bordered by the St. Lawrence River to the north, the St. Regis Mohawk Nation to the east, the Raquette River to the south and property owned by Alcoa and CSX to the west.