The former Guilford Mills factory in Cobleskill could soon be home to a beer and ale brewery.
Schoharie County Supervisors Friday afternoon agreed to give exclusive rights for 60 days to Butternuts Beer and Ale of Garrattsville, Otsego County, to purchase the building.
The county will entertain no other buyers during 60 days as the two sides hammer out the details of a contract.
Representatives of the company, as well as the real estate agent handling the sale, spoke to supervisors Friday at the county board meeting at the MOSA facility on Route 7 in Howes Cave.
The details could be finalized within seven days, said Jack Kelley of Coldwell Banker Commercial.
"We're about 99.9 percent of the way there," he said.
The company needed the exclusive rights to purchase the building so officials could apply for a grant that will be part of the funding package needed to purchase the building.
If the sale goes through, Butternuts would use the Cobleskill plant as a main point of manufacture for their brands and retain their other locations.
The plant could be up and running within a year, company officials said Friday.
The purchase price for the Cobleskill factory is $2.5 million and the company has asked the county to hold the mortgage for 10 years at an interest rate of five percent, Mr. Kelley said.
He said the payments would be delayed for 35 months into the contract, and instead of regular tax payments, the company will make payments in lieu of taxes to be negotiated on the purchase price.
Jefferson Supervisor Dan Singletary said a PILOT needs to be looked at closely.
The company will make a small upfront payment to the county but will need at least $500,000 and maybe up to $1.2 million in capital improvements to the building, which Guilford Mills left in 2001.
Butternuts officials said up to 62 jobs could be created at the new site in four years and up to 100 after 10 years.
The company is getting tax credits from the county for job creation.
Officials said the craft brewery brews, markets, labels and distributes beer and ale in 13 states and they are looking to expand further.
Butternuts, they said has grown by more than 50 percent each year since its inception six years ago.
The building would be immediate and long-term needs of the company, Butternuts' engineer and project manager John Lawrence said.
The firm now has less than 10,000 square feet of manufacturing space, and the former Guilford Mills plant has about 460,000 square-feet.
Mr. Kelley said the company does not need the entire space and may sell or rent some of the space to other companies.
If the company does not buy the entire complex, the county could also sell one of the former Guilford Mills buildings, Mr. Kelley said. There is interest in one of the other buildings.
The sale would be a positive move for the county, Mr. Kelley said.
In addition to jobs and future income, the county "will get out from under this building, especially as this building continues to deteriorate."
The roof leaks in several spots, which the potential buyers are aware of, officials said.
"We're ready to go and we're excited about the facility," Mr. Lawrence said.
In addition to manufacturing beer and ale, Mr. Kelley said the factory could also become a tourist destination as many people travel to breweries throughout the country.
The company is applying for a grant that is due by October 31. Officials said they are also applying for other grants.
County officials thought they had the plant sold earlier to a company that would manufacture and distribute salmon, but the sale fell through.
Poor communication was one of the reasons blamed for the failure, but that does not seem to be the case with Butternuts, Cobleskill Supervisor Tom Murray said.
"Everything we've asked for, they've given us," he said.