SUNY Polytechnic Institute has made many promises for jobs and economic development at Canal Ponds business park in Greece, Monroe County. None have panned out so far. Jon Campbell / Albany Bureau

ALBANY A nanotechnology company announced Monday it will invest $1 billion to build amanufacturing facility at astruggling high-tech plant in Utica aided by $500 million in incentives from New York state.

Cree, Inc., based in Durham, N.C., said it will build the "worlds largest silicon carbide fabrication facility" at the SUNY Polytechnic Institute's Marcy nanoncenter in central New York.

The state incentives are significant. The company expects to have 614 direct jobs within eight years. That comes to $814,000 a job in state incentives if all the jobs materialize.

The announcement comes three years afterAms AG, an Austrian semiconductor manufacturer, pulled out of a plan to invest more than $2 billion at the plant amid a scandalthat rocked SUNY Poly and led to the conviction of its president, Alain Kaloyeros.

The state has tried for years to officially turn the page from the scandal that embroiled Kaloyeros and Gov. Andrew Cuomo's former top aide Joseph Percoco, who is in prison for bribery, and find a new tenant for the sprawling Marcy campus.

Now it appears New York found a company at a sizable cost to taxpayers.

Cree said it will invest $1 billion into building the 480,000 square-foot plant through 2022. The state will kick in the $500 million grant through Empire State Development, the state's economic development arm.

SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Utica is looking to find a new anchor tenant after its president Alain Kaloyeros resigned and was convicted in a kick-back scandal. It announced Monday a deal to bring a North Carolina based company to the site.(Photo: Shawn Dowd/Democrat and Chronicle)

The company said it will also be eligible for additional local incentives and abatements, as well as equipment and tooling from SUNY Poly, which has a massive nanocenter in Albany.

Cuomo, appearing by phone, touted the investment at an event at the siteMonday afternoon. Construction is expected to start in the spring, and it is scheduled to open in 2020.

This partnership is vital to strengthening the research and scientific assets that New York state needs todayto attract the high-tech industries and jobs of tomorrow, he said in a statement.

The company's $1 billion investment is over six years, and the roughly 600 jobs are expected within eight years, Cuomo's office said. The average salary is expected to be $75,000.

Cuomo's office estimated an additional 570 indirect jobs through the project.

The state's grant is performance based, meaning the public money is tied to job performance and the company's investment.

The money will alsoreimburse a portion of Crees costs of "fitting out the new facility and acquiring and installing machinery and equipment, as well as $1 million in Excelsior Jobs tax credits."

The company will also lease space at the SUNY Poly campus in Albany to use the equipment there.

The company said it hopes to take a leading role in the transition from silicon to silicon carbide technology through its Wolfspeed technology that supports electric vehicles, 4G/5G mobile networks and industrial products.

"This partnership will be a key part of our work to strengthen the research and scientific assets that New York state will use to attract the industries and jobs of tomorrow,Empire State Development acting commissioner Eric Gertler said in the company's statement.

If the deal is successful, it could help the state start to rebuild its SUNY Poly network of projects, which also includes a strugglingphotonicscenter in Rochester.

Empire State Development pledged years ago to investmore than $600 million in the Utica plant and took over management of SUNY Poly's economic-development portfolio after Kaloyeros' downfall. This $500 million is part of the $600 million that was initially committed to the site.

SUNY Poly is also heavily in debt because of its rapid buildout under Kaloyeros that was pushed by Cuomo to expand the college's success in Albany to other parts of the state, including Buffalo, Rochester and Utica.

More: As funding clock ticks down, feds assess future of photonics hub

More: After failed deals, can SUNY Poly save itself from 'danger'?

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New York will invest $500 million to bring this company to upstate, or $814,000 per job - Rochester Democrat and Chronicle