ILION, N.Y. — The Herkimer County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) has been awarded a $500,000 grant from Empire State Development (ESD) to jump-start predevelopment work on the long-vacant former Remington Arms factory site here, part of a broader $7 million-plus investment in three Upstate New York projects under the FAST NY program.
The funding, announced Monday by Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration, will help transform the iconic but challenging 207-year-old industrial property into a shovel-ready site capable of attracting new manufacturers, high-tech employers or other economic development tenants.
According to the ESD press release, the grant will finance critical predevelopment activities including site planning, environmental assessments, engineering studies, architectural design work and market feasibility analyses.
The goal is to produce a comprehensive redevelopment plan, site design concepts, cost estimates, phasing strategy and investment prospectus to market the property to prospective developers and businesses.
The total project cost is listed at $1.011 million, meaning the IDA and local partners will cover the balance.
The former Remington Arms facility — once the heart of Ilion’s economy and a cornerstone of American firearms manufacturing since 1816 — has sat largely empty since operations fully ceased in March 2024.
The closure, which followed the company’s relocation of production to Georgia, resulted in the loss of approximately 300 jobs and dealt a significant blow to the village and Herkimer County.
The sprawling site presents well-known hurdles: a complex building layout, aging infrastructure and environmental concerns that qualify it for New York’s Brownfield Cleanup Program.
Herkimer County IDA officials have been actively laying the groundwork for redevelopment for months, including economic-impact studies, infrastructure planning and outreach to potential buyers.
In December 2024, Turin Management LLC signed a purchase-and-sale agreement for the property and began due diligence.
The FAST NY program, launched by Gov. Hochul in 2022, is designed to fast-track “shovel-ready” sites across Upstate New York to attract large-scale employers in sectors such as advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, clean energy and life sciences.
To date, the initiative has awarded more than $333 million to 41 sites.
The Herkimer award is one of three projects funded in this latest round. Schenectady County’s Metroplex Development Authority received $6 million for infrastructure upgrades tied to the GE Vernova Advanced Research Center, while Chautauqua County’s Industrial Development Agency was awarded $675,000 for predevelopment of the 657-acre Eagle Bay site.
Local leaders say the Remington redevelopment could eventually support hundreds of new jobs and help diversify the regional economy beyond its manufacturing roots.
The Herkimer County IDA is expected to begin the funded predevelopment work immediately, with the aim of having a marketable redevelopment package ready within the next 12–18 months.
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Like all the old factory decapitated buildings on Mill Street that are just taking up space, it needs to be torn down and the land cleared.
No one will ever buy that site. It will cost MILLIONS to clean up all the asbestos in those buildings, not to mention all the chemicals that were spilled over the years. I worked in the roll stamping dept where the information was stamped on to the barrels. Oil, coolant and solvents were routinely spilled and left in puddles for days on the floor before sand was spread on the spilled and then the sand was cleaned up the next day. God only know what happened to the sand 🙁