While Gov. Hochul vowed to provide funding to adequately finance MTA projects, at press time no firm plans have been released.
According to the FBI’s 2023 Internet Crime Complaint Center Report, there were more than 101,068 complaints filed by individuals over 60 years old resulting in more than $3.4 billion in losses in 2023.
A well-known business leader, Weale was perhaps best known for co-founding Country Bank in Carmel and later serving as President and CEO of the Putnam County Economic Development Corp. for 13 years.
YONKERS—Westchester County and city officials were on hand on May 5 to celebrate the groundbreaking of a nearly $600-million mixed-use project that will transform a large swath of the city’s waterfront by adding nearly 1,400 units of housing to its growing housing stock.
Extell Development officials turned the first dirt on its long awaited $585-million Hudson Piers development that will feature 1,395 residential units, including approximately 140 affordable housing units. The project is being built on a now vacant 17.4-acre parcel that formerly housed a plastics factory.
City officials say that Hudson Piers will be the largest private development to be undertaken in city history and represents the largest project to receive incentives from the Yonkers Industrial Development Agency.
The project will be developed in three phases over a six-year period and is expected to create 200 permanent jobs and 450-500 construction jobs. The first phase will involve the construction of the first two buildings of what will be, when completed six, seven-story buildings totaling 870,000 square feet of space. The project will also include 37,000 rentable square feet of ground floor retail space and an expansive riverfront esplanade.
Extell worked closely with the City of Yonkers and the Yonkers Industrial Development Agency to provide the Hudson Piers project with a 20-year PILOT and a 100% abatement on taxes for improvements.
A rendering of the Hudson Piers development to be built by Extell Development Co. of New York City.
Back on Aug. 29, 2018, the Yonkers IDA approved financial incentives that included $15,382,926 in sales and use tax exemptions and $5,875,732 in mortgage recording tax exemptions. Extell’s 20-year payment in lieu of taxes agreement (PILOT) consists of an annual payment of $4,519,000.
“Extell’s Hudson Piers will be one of the most transformative developments this city has seen,” said Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano. “It will cap off the extraordinary momentum seen in recent years that’s spurred unprecedented investment in our city. I look forward to welcoming more families, businesses and jobs to Yonkers on the river and fulfilling our truest potential.”
He said Extell’s Hudson Piers caps what has been a total of nearly $5 billion in private investment development funding in the City of Yonkers in recent years. Mayor Spano termed it a “crowning achievement” for the city’s four-and-a-half mile Hudson River shoreline.
“We are proud to be a part of the incredible redevelopment which has turned Yonkers into the fastest growing big city in New York State under Mayor Mike Spano,” said Gary Barnett, Founder & Chairman of Extell Development Company. “Hudson Piers will introduce a significant supply of new luxury and affordable housing to Yonkers and will bring the Extell quality of construction complemented by an unmatched array of lifestyle amenities to the City’s waterfront.”
Barnett noted that his firm went into contract on the purchase of the waterfront parcel more than five years ago. When asked if the current supply chain issues, higher labor and material costs will affect the project’s timeline, Barnett responded, “It won’t, but it is more painful because everything costs more and we did not necessarily plan on it. So, hopefully it is going to be a commercial success, but it’s not going to affect the timeline. We are moving ahead and the first two buildings are under construction and we plan to continue from there.”
Deputy County Executive Ken Jenkins, a Yonkers native, said, “I am so super excited to see this kind of transformative project here in Yonkers.” He said the project will help connect the city’s existing Riverwalk beginning at the Sugar House site and eventually run all the way to Hastings. Jenkins noted that the Riverwalk will eventually run from the Bronx line to the border with Putnam County.
Construction on the first two buildings should be completed within 18 to 24 months. Barnett said full build-out of Hudson Piers should take between five to six years. The construction manager for Hudson Piers is Platinum Developers of Lakewood, NJ. The architect is Perkins Eastman.
Hudson Piers will offer a mix of studio- to-three-bedroom residences. Interiors will feature fully tiled bathrooms, in-unit washer/dryers, premium stainless-steel appliances, Kohler fixtures, separate zones for heating and cooling, and private terraces, company officials stated.
A rendering of the Hudson Piers development to be built by Extell Development Co. of New York City.
Planned outdoor amenities include waterfront recreation terraces with hammocks, fire pits, grilling stations, sundecks, billiards, putting greens, bocce courts, an outdoor swimming pool, and fresh retail. Indoor amenities will include multiple fitness centers, lounges, playrooms, a catering kitchen, basketball gym, screening room, game room, teen rooms, business and conference center and a 24-hour attended lobby. A total of 1,028 covered parking spaces will be provided on the first two floors of the buildings, with an additional 212 on-grade spaces, for a total of 1,240 parking spaces. Each of the buildings will have their own package, storage and bicycle rooms. Shuttle services will be provided for residents to and from the Yonkers Metro-North train station.
As part of the Hudson Piers project, 1.5 acres of new public parkland will be created as well as a 1.5-mile-long esplanade extension that will adjoin to the existing public waterfront promenade. Plans also call for the construction of a new elevated roadway to be named Riverside Drive, which will be deeded back to the city.
Extell Development, which was founded in 1989, has extensive holdings in New York City. Among its current projects include Central Park Tower, the tallest residential tower in the world located on “Billionaire’s Row;” the largest condominium in Lower Manhattan, One Manhattan Square located on the edge of the New York Harbor; Brooklyn Point, a a residential tower in Downtown Brooklyn; The Kent at 200 East 95th St., an Art Deco inspired building; 1010 Park, a collection of 11 full-floor and duplex luxury condominiums; and 70 Charlton, the first luxury residential development in Hudson Square in West SoHo. Extell has also restored and updated a number of classic properties in landmark neighborhoods, including the former Stanhope Hotel at 995 Fifth Avenue and The Belnord, a landmark building on the Upper West Side.
Sales were down in all counties in the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors market area, with Orange County posting the largest decline in single-family home sales at 26.9%.
“The struggle to create housing that is affordable for people across the entire spectrum of income will be the defining civic issue for this generation of leaders in the Hudson Valley,” Pattern CEO Adam Bosch said.
Data shows that from 1996-2021, the Hudson Valley region lost a net total of 146,763 people to out migration, which calculates out to 5% of the Hudson Valley’s population.
“2023 was a difficult year for Realtors due to high mortgage rates and low housing inventory, which significantly impacted home sales volume,”
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