The Greenwich-based developer National Resources that has been involved in a proposal for building a movie studio in Yonkers for film and television producer Lionsgate has revealed that it has had talks that might bring what is described as an international media company to Tarrytown.
The reference was made when the developer went before the Tarrytown Planning Board for a review of a site plan application.
National Resources, through the entity Ferry Landings LLC, is seeking site plan approval to move ahead with the renovation of a structure known as the Cooney Building at 41 Hudson View Way in its Hudson Harbor development. Hudson Harbor is on 24 acres along the Tarrytown waterfront and has been under development for about 15 years.
One of the final phases of the project involves renovating the Cooney Building. The building is where the international media company, whose identify has not been revealed, would be located, according to an official of National Resources. The building most recently had been used by Tappan Zee Constructors, the consortium that built the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge. It moved out in January 2020.
According to National Resources, 218 condominiums and townhouses of 238 approved have been built to date. The Hudson Harbor project is to include four restaurants and retail spaces, four outdoor pools, four recreation centers, a marina and a riverwalk among other features.
“This is not germane to the application but the tenant whom we are considering for the space at the moment is an international media company,” Lynne Ward, executive vice president of National Resources, told the Tarrytown Planning Board. “They operate in the United Kingdom, the United States. This will be their executive offices in 20,000 square feet of the space, executive and financial offices, and the 7,000 feet of storage will probably be used for their creative materials, their electronic equipment for filming.”
The site plan application for the Cooney Building indicates that a new third floor of 4,377 square feet would be added to a section of the building. Second floor office and service space would total 6,961 square feet. The first floor would contain a lobby and reception area, offices, storage and service space totaling 18,662 square feet.
Architect Ulises Montes de Oca of Lessard Design International told the board, “What we’re proposing is a facelift. National Resources has approached us to renovate this building, to come up with new interiors and also exteriors.”
Ward said that the entire building would be used by a single tenant and would not be for third-party storage or anything else.
“The building has been in continuous occupation for basically the same reason since 1969 when it was built as a combination of an office and a storage building,” Ward said. “We have in front of us an existing building. We have an application completely in line with the master plan development here. We have a by-right office development. We have a building here that is an office building that has been in continuous use for 50 years.”
Members of the planning board noted that the site plan for Hudson Harbor has undergone a number of amendments over the years and they wanted to have the developer submit updated plans reflecting the overall layout of what exists on the site and what remains to be built.
Concerns were expressed that if new construction affects the master plan for Hudson Harbor in a way that changes it from what it was at the time of the project’s environmental review another review under the State Environmental Quality Review Act might be required.
Stanley Friedlander, chairman of the planning board, said, “We need to see the whole picture to get an idea of what the potential impacts are going to be for the whole project to really make an informed decision on the Cooney Building.”
There was no response to telephone messages seeking comment from National Resources on the progress of the Lionsgate project in Yonkers and requesting the identity of the international media company that might come to Tarrytown.
