Troy

DeFazio's, a cornerstone of the city's Little Italy neighborhood since 1951, wants to expand by investing $1 million to $2 million in redeveloping the former Vanilla Bean bakery into a culinary destination.

A pizzeria/restaurant with a bar, a banquet hall for 75 to 100 patrons, a retail store and a culinary school are all part of the proposal submitted by Rocco DeFazio. The number of employees would increase to 15 to 35 from the current staff of six.

There would also be outdoor dining on the building's Hill Street side with access across the street to the historic outdoor public market.

"This is something we've been working on for a very long time," DeFazio said Wednesday.

Vanilla Bean closed its operations at 214-226 Fourth St. in 2007 leaving the building vacant and its property taxes unpaid since October 2007.

"When the Vanilla Bean closed, it really put a big dent in the neighborhood," DeFazio said.

The lone survivor among the 265 mom-and-pop stores that dominated Troy's retail trade in the 1950s, DeFazio's now finds it has to expand to meet increasing demand. The pizzeria at 266 Fourth St. can't make pizzas fast enough and business has to be turned away.

While there's a steady stream of customers into the original retail store at 264 Fourth St., DeFazio, 64, sees room for expansion based on the quality of the food and goods he and his sons, Matthew, 27, and Michael, 30, create and sell.

Lois Teitsch of Lincoln Avenue has shopped at DeFazio's since 1965.

"That would be fantastic," Teitsch said about the plans to relocate and grow up the street in the vacant Vanilla Bean property.

"It will be a great opportunity to keep our business going strong and to restore the area," Matthew DeFazio said.

"We don't want to move away from the neighborhood," Michael DeFazio said.

The DeFazios just need the City Council to approve their $5,000 bid to acquire the Vanilla Bean site through the in rem process through which the city sells tax delinquent properties.

Republican Councilman Jim Gordon has questioned the procedures used to select the DeFazios as the purchaser. He said more detailed financial information was needed.

Gordon will seek to table the sale at the City Council's Finance Committee meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday at City Hall.

"With the size of this project and the impact it would have on the neighborhood," said Gordon, the project should be fully vetted.

Gordon said he recommended the Law Committee, which he chairs, should review the referral process for selecting purchasers.

DeFazio said he has both private and bank financing lined up to undertake the project.

Michael Morris, a spokesman for Mayor Lou Rosamilia, said the ad-hoc working group responsible for making recommendations recommended the sale to DeFazio out of four proposals submitted.

The group considers the best use of the property; the highest, long-term value a project will add to the city tax base; ownership by a local property owner or business; the probability of finishing the project; and the benefits to neighborhood appearance and property values, Morris said.

kcrowe@timesunion.com • 518-454-5084 • @KennethCrowe