Pharmaceutical giant Regeneron went back before the Greenburgh Planning Board Wednesday night as the town considers its application for a $450 million project. It would involve constructing a two-story, 207,940-square-foot research and development building along with a new parking structure on its campus.
The board decided to have Greenburgh’s planning staff prepare draft recommendations to the Town Board and the Zoning Board and determined it would consider finalizing its recommendations in July.
The board likely would recommend approval of the project and suggest that the zoning board approve requested variances to allow the height of the proposed parking structure to be 87 feet, allow reduced setbacks for the new construction and allow an increased FAR (floor to area ratio) for the project.
In their discussion, planning board members noted that the Regeneron campus is isolated from any neighbors and the only ones they’d be affecting by their new additions would be themselves, while also expressing concerns about plans for pedestrian routes and suggesting that bike lanes be added where possible.
There would be enclosed bridges connecting the new building with other buildings on the property. The street address of the proposed development is 555 Old Saw Mill River Road.
Regeneron is seeking approval to amend the existing site plan covering the current campus layout as well as asking for a tree removal permit, steep slope permit and wetland/watercourse permit.
Separately, Regeneron is seeking necessary approvals to use space on a lot at 777 Old Saw Mill River Road as a construction staging area and parking lot for construction workers in connection with the proposed development.
The lot where the new building and garage would be sited has a total of 65.64 acres, while the lot where the construction staging area would be set up has a total of 39.8 acres, according to Planning Board information.
Attorney Janet Giris of the White Plains-based law firm DelBello Donnellan Weingarten Wise & Wiederkehr LLP wrote to the planning board that a project to add space that had been approved in 2014 at the request of BMR Landmark at Eastview, the entity that previously controlled the property, no longer meets Regeneron”™s needs and has been redesigned.
Back then, construction of a new four-story building containing 128,564 square feet together with a three-level parking structure housing 868 parking spaces had been approved by Greenburgh.
In addition to proposing a larger research and development building, Regeneron wants to build a larger parking structure. It would be six stories and contain approximately 1,189 parking spaces.
The 2014 plan would had an estimated cost of $150 million. The cost of the new plan is estimated at $450 million.
Giris said that due to existing topography, disturbance of slopes greater than 25% and disturbance in a wetland buffer area would be unavoidable.
She advised the planning board that Regeneron is the largest biotechnology company in New York state and is among the 10 largest pharmaceutical companies in the U.S.
Regeneron has received nine approvals from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market medications for conditions that include eye diseases that can lead to blindness, cancer, severe inflammatory conditions and the virus Ebola.
It also is well-known for its monoclonal antibody cocktail to treat Covid-19, REGEN-COV, that has received FDA Emergency Use Authorization. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Regeneron reported 2020 revenues of $8.49 billion and net income of $3.51 billion.
