John J. Fareri”™s plans for a medical and biotechnology campus in Westchester gain momentum and friends each day.
Fareri, president and CEO of Fareri Associates L.P. in Greenwich, Conn., wants to develop 60 acres of county-owned land within the 512-acre Grasslands Reservation adjoining Westchester Medical Center in the town of Mount Pleasant. Fareri owns 20 acres of land adjoining the property. A request for qualifications  was issued by the county last year.
Fareri presented his revised plans for the project at a Mount Pleasant Town Board work session on June 5 as he continues to negotiate with the county to lease the Grasslands property.
The first phase of the 800,000-square-foot, $500 million project includes 150,000 square feet of office space for medical practices and 300,000 square feet for a medical facility that would likely involve Westchester Medical Center and New York Medical College. Both centers have praised Fareri”™s planned development.
The project would feature 70,000 square feet of retail space and include a grocery store, pharmacy, restaurant  bank. Commercial  offices are also proposed for the site, along with a day care center, bringing retail services and amenities to the physically isolated medical center and New York Medical College campuses.
A 120-room hotel would also be built, designed for patients and their families to stay in before and after surgeries.
The second phase of the project would see a campus designed for biotechnology and medical research, creating more than 2 million square feet of development.
“This will provide a lot of jobs,” Bruce Komiske, project executive for Fareri Associates, said. “We want to create a critical mass in this area.”
Komiske said parking would be underneath the buildings and would have a minimal impact on the nearby neighborhoods.
“There is a major landscape buffer,” Komiske said. “Access would be through Route 9 and the Sprain Brook Parkway.”
Fareri said there has been interest from a number of different companies, but no companies will commit until the project receives the necessary approvals. Town officials have cited the potential for millions in tax revenue for the town.
Given an agreement with the county on the property, the project would require a zoning change and site plan approvals from the town planning board and State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) approval by the town board.
Fareri said he is fulfilling the county”™s vision to become the intellectual capital of the state.
“We want this to be a cluster of pharmaceutical companies,” he said. “These companies feed off each other. We are trying to create demand. I think this will benefit everybody. It will help bring in jobs; it will help Westchester Medical Center and New York Medical College and give the economy a boost.”
Fareri, the father of a 13-year-old girl who died from rabies, with his family raised some $40 million in donations and built the Maria Fareri Children”™s Hospital in his daughter’s memory at Westchester Medical Center. The pedaitric hospital opened in 2004.
Fareri said the Children”™s Living Science Center, a 60,000-square-foot to 80,000-square-foot facility proposed for the health and science complex, would be designed to give youths an education in healthy and unhealthy behavior and diseases “that keeps children out of the (Maria Fareri) hospital.”
Fareri Associates dropped plans for housing for medical residents and fellows on the site after the town board objected. The company also said it will conduct a traffic study during the SEQRA process. Fareri said he plans to host meetings with the community and work to generate support.
“I look forward to continuing this dialogue with the town board and the community,” Fareri said. “We want to attract these biotech (companies) to Westchester and bring in high-paying jobs.”
Fareri said he hopes to have a lease signed with the county in the coming months. William Mooney III, a senior adviser to County Executive Robert Astorino, said the county is continuing to work with Fareri and is obtaining an appraisal of the property’s value.
“We think this is a great economic development,” Mooney said. “It”™s a unique opportunity to develop county-owned land for job opportunities. This fits wonderfully with our goal of bringing biotech to Westchester.”
Previous proposals for the fallow North 60 property included a simulcast theater for the New York Racing Association in 1992, a biomedical research center in 2002 and a continuing-care community center in 2005. An autism center was proposed for the site last year.
The prospect of developing this dormant property to synergize with the immediate area hospitals and medical school makes perfect sense for the entire region. Beyond the obvious economic boost, facilities that help patients young and old are smart for Westchester’s long-term vitality. John Fareri has a great track record of defying the odds to build projects that benefit ALL stakeholders. Originally, experts said it wouldn’t be possible to build a Children’s hospital; Today it is built and at full capacity saving lives. Area residents should applaud this type of visionary project, and help maximize it’s utility for myriad constituents that comprise Westchester’s future.