“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.
Elected officials, seeking to appease vocal constituents, frequently uphold restrictive zoning laws that favor single-family residences over more diverse housing options.
WHITE PLAINS—The nearly $2-billion expansion of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has once again put economic development activity incentivized by the Westchester County Industrial Development Agency in the billions of dollars.
The agency reported that 2023 was another record year as it finished the year with final and preliminary approval of financial assistance for private investment development projects valued at approximately $2.2 billion. This follows up the 2022 calendar year, which saw the IDA provide financial incentives for projects with an estimated value of $1.84 billion.
In 2022, the IDA provided incentives for the first phase of Regeneron’s expansion at its facilities in Greenburgh and Tarrytown. Last year, the agency once again approved incentives for the pharmaceutical firm’s larger expansion of its corporate headquarters complex.
Like 2022, the Regeneron was the IDA’s largest project by far in 2023. The expansion project is expected to create more than 2,700 construction jobs including 1,867 direct jobs resulting in more than $273 million in worker earnings and $357 million in economic activity in Westchester County, the IDA reported.
Westchester County Director of Operations Joan McDonald, who chairs the IDA, said of the IDA’s 2023 activity: “When you take Regeneron’s expansion coupled with the other economic development programs that we have in the county, which based on my experience are unique, for a county to be this active in economic development initiatives focusing on the biotech, advanced manufacturing and clean energy sectors, there is a strategy there.”
She said the wide range of projects that received incentives was “truly impressive,” including transit-oriented developments, affordable senior housing, research labs, adaptive reuse housing and energy storage facilities. McDonald noted that while the projects in $10-million projects in Ossining and Yorktown will not involve significant job creation, it does “send a message that we are committed to alternative energy.”
“In addition to local developers, we are also seeing national real estate companies that are attracted to the highly educated workforce and excellent quality of life that Westchester has to offer,” McDonald added.
Other projects in addition to Regeneron that are receiving preliminary and final approvals of financial assistance in 2023 included:
Armory Plaza, 35 South Broadway, White Plains
Development cost: $32.3 million renovation of Armory Plaza
Project developer: The Related Companies
Project description: Renovation of four-story, 52-unit castle-like property into 100 percent affordable apartments for seniors.
Construction jobs to be created: 18.
Modera, 39 Westmoreland Ave., White Plains
Development cost: $89.2 million
Project developer: Mill Creek Residential Trust
Project description: Adaptive reuse of a vacant light manufacturing facility into a 189-unit multifamily rental building with 12% of the units to be affordable at or below 80% AMI (Area Median Income).
Construction jobs to be created: 56.
5 Ray Place, Eastchester
Development cost: $10 million
Project developer: Augustus Development
Project description: Five-story multifamily building with 18 residential units of which two units will be set aside as affordable for residents with an
AMI of 120% or less.
Construction jobs to be created: 29.
Crescent Manor Ossining, 136-140 Croton Ave.
Development cost: $44.5 million
Project developer: Macquesten Development.
Project description: 74-unit, 100% affordable housing project for seniors 62 and older.
Construction jobs to be created: 159.
Ossining Energy Storage, 381 North Highland Ave.
Development cost: $10 million
Project developer: Enel X, a subsidiary of Enel North America Inc.
Project description: Energy storage facility to be built on vacant land on the property of St. Augustine Church.
Construction jobs to be created: 12.
Yorktown Energy Storage, 3901 Gomer Court
Development cost: $9.8 million
Project developer: Enel X, a subsidiary of Enel North America Inc.
Project description: Energy storage facility to be built on Gomer Court.
Construction jobs to be created: 12.
8 Chester Ave. White Plains
Development cost: $21.8 million
Project developer: Chester WP LLC
Project description: Construction of a four-story apartment building consisting of 74 units of workforce housing and 40 parking spaces. Nine units will be designated as affordable.
Construction jobs to be created: 49.
20 Haarlem Ave., 27 Holland Ave. and 7-11 Holland Ave., White Plains
Development cost: $169 million
Project developer: NW Plains Venture LLC, an entity of BRP Companies
Project description: Adaptive reuse, transit-oriented residential development featuring two 6-story buildings consisting of 296 apartments. The project will include five affordable units. The developer will buy out a portion of its 24-unit affordable housing obligation to the City of White Plains Affordable Housing Fund for a total of $2,028,125. BRP Companies, which is a Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE), has pledged that 30% of the project would be awarded to minority-owned businesses.
“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.
Located at 23 Mulberry St. in the Hollow neighborhood of South Yonkers, the $48 million, four-story building has 60 energy-efficient, affordable apartments for seniors.
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