OLEAN — The Connection building on Wayne Street will see a new use, thanks to InTandem.
During a city planning board meeting, InTandem officials outlined their plans to reuse the former call center site to expand offices.
“We purchased the building with the intention of utilizing it as office space for our behavioral health staff,” said InTandem CEO Mari Howard.
InTandem is renovating the interior of the building, and plans to make minor improvements to the exterior, including signs and minor changes to parking.
In addition, Howard said the site could also end up being used by the Cattaraugus County Health Department.
“The county has approached me for utilizing the facility for COVID testing,” she said, adding the parking lot route allows for in-and-out traffic for drive-through testing.
“We have all their PPE stored in one of our warehouses, so we already are good partners with the county,” Howard added.
In 2018, Arc of New York chapter ReHabilitation Center, which covered Cattaraugus County, and Opportunities of Unlimited of Niagara in Niagara County partnered to form InTandem.
According to the Cattaraugus County Real Property Service online parcel database, the property was purchased in 2008 by Park Centre Development, the company founded by the late Oleander Louis Magnano. Originally, it had been owned by Dresser-Rand, but was spun off in 1991 for sale to the Cattaraugus County Empire Zone Corp.
Cattaraugus Rehabilitation Center Inc. purchased the building for $800,000 in February.
The 19,075-square-foot structure was built in 1991 and includes 2.46 acres of land. The property has a total assessment of $555,000.
Before moving in offices, the agency requires a site plan for a change of use for the structure from the planning board. A public hearing on the plan is set for Dec. 14.