Kristine Morabito with the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency describes the parcels that Wavepoint is seeking to purchase from the county IDA. P-J photo by Gregory Bacon

A warehouse company that has locations in Fredonia and Sheridan is looking to expand its business with a multi-million project.

At the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency Board of Directors meeting, representatives with Wavepoint 3PL, Inc. were in attendance. They are seeking to purchase and renovate its warehouse at the Chadwick Bay Industrial Park as well as buy some nearby land from the IDA for possible future development.

The warehouse, which is located at 3565 Chadwick Drive, Sheridan is 115,000 square feet.

The company also owns the former Carriage House plant in Fredonia. No changes were announced for that location and operations are expected to continue.

Wavepoint corporate attorney Matt Reichert said there’s a strong workforce in the county, which is why they want to purchase and renovate the warehouse in Sheridan. “It (Chautauqua County) has been our most productive area for us, comparing it to Erie County (Pennsylvania), comparing it to Erie County, New York, and comparing it to Niagara County, New York,” he said.

They currently have 64 people employed in the county. Their goal, with this warehouse renovation, is to add an additional 20 jobs in the next three years.

Reichert said they do “transloading” in Sheridan and Fredonia, where they take a load of product and place it in smaller consumer-grade containers. The products they transload locally are food based.

“A value-added operation is 32 packs of a single pack of grape juice, orange juice, fruit punch. We take it and assemble it into the singular packs you see in your stores. It’s a heavy manual type process, but it is something that is integral to our business,” he said.

At the Sheridan site, there is an unused railroad line that they want to utilize. “The ability to bring in raw ingredients from the rail, transload them … is absolutely invaluable to us,” he said.

Because of this, they are looking to purchase about 11 acres of land that is currently owned by the county IDA.

They may expand the building in the future to be closer to the railroad, however no formal plans have been submitted at this time

Wavepoint purchased the former Carriage House plant back in 2023.

Reichert said they’re very happy with the operations there, but said because it’s landlocked, they aren’t planning any expansion there.

The entire project in Sheridan is expected to cost at least $6 million.

Wavepoint is seeking some financial assistance through a Payment In Lieu Of Taxes.

Kristine Morabito with the county IDA said she has spoken with the Sheridan Town Supervisor and he expressed support for the PILOT.

On Tuesday, the county IDA passed resolutions to start the process. A final vote will take place in the future, following a public hearing.

The board also authorized a State Environmental Quality Review for the parcel, which is required before it sells the property.

IDA Chief Executive Officer Mark Geise called the proposal a “really exciting project.”

The Chairman of the IDA Board of Directors, Gary Henry, agreed. “We’re glad to see the expansion and hope there might be some options in the future as to how you might be able to use this rail as you continue to grow further,” he said.