Mount Vernon, 96 percent developed, retrofits to grow

Mount Vernon has little room for new development and must continue to take advantage of redevelopment opportunities, according to a panel of real estate experts speaking at a forum last week.
The event, held at Samba ”™Na Brasa in the city, was sponsored by the Mount Vernon Chamber of Commerce and the Westchester County Association.
“Mount Vernon is 4.2 square miles, and very little land area is undeveloped,” said Gerrie Post, president of the Mount Vernon Chamber of Commerce. “So, we”™ll have to develop our underused sites.”
Post, the former longtime planning commissioner for Mount Vernon, said the city”™s master plan hasn”™t been updated since the early 1960s. She said the city should consider rezoning certain areas of the city to allow for high-rise structures to be built.
“One of the problems we”™ve had is that over the years ”˜spot zoning”™ became the norm,” she said. “We need to rezone.”
Ira Mines, the Mount Vernon Empire Zone coordinator, said the city is about 96 percent developed.
He said real property in Mount Vernon is approaching $100 per square foot, and that the commercial real estate market is strong. Mines credited the Empire Zone program, instituted in the city in 2002, for much of that growth.
New York state”™s Empire Zone program was created in 1999 as a way to stimulate economic growth through a variety of tax incentives designed to attract new businesses to New York, and to enable existing businesses to expand and create more jobs.
Commercial real estate broker John Goad said specifically, the market for heavy industrial property is “very, very strong.”
“Heavy industrial is sought after in Mount Vernon,” he said. “We have more clients than inventory.”
He also said investment properties, such as apartment buildings, have seen a reduction in price.
Robert Gilman, of the accounting and consulting firm Anchin Block & Anchin, said Mount Vernon is poised to receive continued interest from real estate investment funds that can”™t continue to buy properties in New York Cityas prices there drive ever higher.
“Westchester has been an area where a lot of these real estate funds are looking for property,” he said.
On the residential side, Linda Rose, a broker with Fleetwood Realty, said home sales are down between 5 percent to 10 percent over the past year.
However, she said, “buyers are out there” but many owners have selling prices higher than most buyers are willing to pay right now.
“Sales are happening,” she added.

Several residential projects, both luxury and affordable housing, that are in the works in the city were also discussed at the event.
Mountco Construction and Development Corp. in Eastchester will be building a 13-story, one- to two-bedroom complex on Third Avenue between Second and Third Streets that will be designated for affordable housing.
Also discussed were several market-rate condo projects being developed by Peter F. Gaito & Associates.
These include the Alexander, a 199-unit, 19-story building at 120 East Sandford Blvd. The 350,000-square-foot, mixed-use building would include a fitness area, pool, and 24-hour concierge service.
The firm has begun construction on the Vista at Fleetwood, at 550 Locust St. Once completed, the 11-story, 92,000-square-foot building will feature 100 one- and two-bedroom units.