The old and the new in corporate presences in Westchester County were honored recently by the Building Owners and Managers Association of Westchester County (BOMA) at its 17th annual awards dinner.
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), the largest company in the county it has called home for nearly half a century, and The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company L.L.C., which this year opened The Ritz-Carlton, Westchester in downtown White Plains, received the group”™s Hall of Honor Award for their contributions to the county”™s economic growth.
A presence in Westchester since 1961, when the global information technology and consulting corporation opened a research facility in Yorktown, IBM currently occupies nearly 3 million square feet of office space here. More than 8,000 of the company”™s nearly 387,000 employees worldwide work in Westchester. In addition to its original location, IBM has operations in North Castle, its former corporate headquarters; Somers, one of its largest office centers in the U.S.; Armonk, its current corporate headquarters, and the Yorktown/Hawthorne research facilities.
BOMA officials cited The Ritz-Carlton company and its 118-room luxury hotel at Three Renaissance Square for setting “a new standard for hotels in our market” and helping to change a dying downtown into “a haven for the trendy and hip while offering a big-city vibe.”
“This was the cherry on top of the sundae,” BOMA master of ceremonies and CB Richard Ellis broker Michael Siegel said of the hotel, part of the Renaissance Square complex still under construction by Cappelli Enterprises Inc. The $600 million project also includes the two 44-story towers of The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton, Westchester.
Jacqueline Sanders, the hotel”™s general manager who accepted the award, said the new Ritz has more than 350 employees.
Westchester One, at 21 stories the county”™s tallest office building, won The Office Building of The Year Award among this year”™s Best of BOMA Award winners. The 908,000-square-foot class-A office building at 44 S. Broadway in White Plains was tops in BOMA”™s renovated category following a $13 million capital project to reposition the property by its owner of two years, Beacon Capital Partners L.L.C.
Other 2008 Best of BOMA Award winners were:
Ӣ Best Green Initiative: Reckson Division of SL Green Realty Corp., for the companyӪs recycling of some 200 tons of construction materials in the last year and its energy reduction efforts, bottle recycling and use of renewable energy sources in its office buildings.
Ӣ Best Lobby: Parker Corporate Center, 1311 Mamaroneck Ave., White Plains, owned by Onyx Equities L.L.C. of Woodbridge, N.J.
Ӣ Best Suburban Park Setting: The Summit, a three-building, 102-acre office park on Summit Lake Drive in Valhalla owned by SL Green/Reckson Division.
Ӣ Best Central Business District Curb Appeal: 50 Main St., part of the Westchester Financial Center in downtown White Plains owned by Mack-Cali Realty Corp.
