Supermarket gets town support

A Westchester developer”™s proposal to build a supermarket and office and retail space in an office-park district on Route 119 got needed support recently from the Greenburgh Town Board. The developer in turn agreed to contribute $200,000 to town planning and recreational programs as the project clears more hurdles to completion.

Town board members at their Nov. 24 meeting approved a zoning amendment at 600 White Plains Road to allow White Hickory Associates L.L.C., led by commercial developer Robert F. Weinberg, to build an approximately 67,500-square-foot Stop & Shop grocery store, 50,000 square feet of office space, 22,500 square feet of general retail space and about 8,600 square feet of additional free-standing commercial space for likely leasing by a bank or restaurant. A Sheraton Hotel occupies part of the property.

Weinberg, president of Robert Martin Co. L.L.C. in Elmsford, scaled back supermarket space by 10 percent from White Hickory”™s initial two-year-old proposal and added the same amount of space, 7,500 square feet, to general retail construction.

The Greeenburgh planning board last year recommended the zoning change not be approved because it was limited to one property and did not address a townwide issue regarding new uses for office park developments. Planning members voting against the change, however, said the developer”™s proposed alternative uses fit well the White Plains Road site.

White Hickory agreed to donate $100,000 toward the town”™s costs to develop a new comprehensive plan for the town that will incorporate the project in its planning. The developer also agreed to donate $100,000 to the town recreation fund if town officials approve project site plans within nine months after submission.

With the zoning change approved, “We”™re going to crank up as fast as we can,” Weinberg said. Though traffic concerns raised by town officials must be addressed, “There”™s nothing now that should cause us a serious delay,” said the developer. “Our aim is to try to get the buildings under construction next year.” The office space will not be built until a tenant is secured, he said.

Weinberg said he had no estimate of project costs.

The Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. would close its nearby grocery at the Bridge Plaza Shopping Center in Tarrytown to anchor the mixed-use development near the intersection of Route 119 and Benedict Avenue. Stop & Shop”™s lease at Bridge Plaza expires in 2031. Company officials are negotiating an agreement with Tarrytown village officials to lease the existing store to a tenant that will continue to provide basic groceries for neighborhood shoppers and to make improvements to storefronts and the entire shopping plaza.