The proposed nanotechnology center in Marcy is losing its main investor after the project has become entangled in the state corruption scandal involving the governor’s upstate development programs.
The Austrian company AMS, AG has pulled out of the 450-acre Nanocenter, a chip fabrication project at the campus of SUNY Polytechnic Institute.
The former president of SUNY Poly Alain Kaloyeros was indicted earlier this year on corruption charges along with several other people associated with Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s upstate development projects over an alleged bid-rigging scheme. After those charges were filed, oversight of the Nanocenter was moved to the New York Empire State Development Corporation (ESD) in September.
A spokesman for ESD says the Austrian company's decision stems from several long delays on the project, which ESD is blaming on Kaloyeros. ESD officials say the state will continue building the site, which developers broke ground on in April, and will continue seeking a replacement anchor tenant.
