People using a new self-storage facility at 1969 Central Park Ave. in Yonkers or who happen to just be in the vicinity and want an exotic cup of coffee will have an easy time finding it thanks to the new Starbucks that has opened there. Mayor Mike Spano led a contingent of officials on hand for a Jan. 26 ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Starbucks outlet.
The five-story self-storage building was constructed on an approximately 1.32-acre parcel by 1969 Central Park Avenue LLC. It contains approximately 92,181 square feet of space. The ground floor retail units have a total of 5,815 square feet of space. The $21 million project received financial incentives from the Yonkers Industrial Development Agency that included a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreement and sales and use tax exemptions of $948,294 along with a mortgage recording tax exemption of $236,520..
In addition to Starbucks, retail tenants at the new building include a branch of Orange Bank & Trust Company. The hair salon Supercuts also was due to open at the site.
Spano thanked developer Mark Fonte for his perseverance in pursuing the development and noted that the Fonte family has a long history of community involvement in the city.
“This is a wonderful family with a great history here in Yonkers and they’ve chosen to stay here and to continue to develop here,” Spano said, adding about the current project, “Whatever Mark had to do he did and he did it right.”
Spano explained that the site had been dominated by solid rock and taking it down to make the parcel viable for development was a challenge. He presented Fonte with a proclamation making Jan. 26, 2024, Starbucks Day in Yonkers.
City Council Member Anthony J. Merante noted that the project first came before the city in 2018 when Fonte filed for a zoning change.
Fonte thanked Spano, Merante and the City Council as a whole for their work in helping bring the project to fruition.
