BOMA confers industry honors: Deals & Deeds

Owners of two Yonkers developments recently received Hall of Honor awards from the Building Owners and Managers Association of Westchester County (BOMA) for their contributions to the county”™s economic growth.

The honors were among several bestowed May 2 at the 22nd annual awards dinner of BOMA Westchester.

Elizabeth Seton Pediatric Center CEO Patricia Tursi accepted the award on behalf of the nonprofit nursing facility for medically fragile children that opened in March 2012 at 300 Corporate Boulevard S. in Yonkers in March 2012. The organization relocated from leased space in Manhattan to a newly built 165,000-square-foot center that is home to 137 children with complex medical conditions and disabilities.

Tursi noted the state-of-the-art Yonkers facility is the only long-term pediatric center in the nation certified by the U.S. Green Building Council for reaching the “gold” standard of energy-efficient construction in the council”™s Leadership in Environmental Energy and Design (LEED) program.

Forest City Ratner Cos., the Brooklyn-based developer of Westchester”™s Ridge Hill in Yonkers, also received BOMA”™s Hall of Honor tribute.

The 1.3-million-square-foot mixed-use development on an 81-acre site employs 1,600 workers in its restaurants, retail and entertainment businesses and 160,000-square-foot office building, said Forest City Ratner Executive Vice President Kathryn Welch when accepting the award.

BOMA officers said the $842 million Ridge Hill development generates an estimated $24.2 million in annual sales tax revenue.

The BOMA chapter also handed out three Westchester County Signature Awards in an evening of banter, musical entertainment and industry accolades catered by Abigail Kirsch at Tappan Hill Mansion in Tarrytown.

Architect and building owner Dennis Noskin accepted the Creative Real Estate Deal of the Year award for his purchase of Manor House, a nearly 100-year-old building with 8,100 square feet of office space at 100 White Plains Road in Tarrytown.

Looking to relocate his Dennis Noskin Architects office from his 55 S. Broadway property to accommodate a tenant, Noskin worked with broker Glenn Walsh and the Manor House owner, Gary Juster, whose Juster Development Co. is headquartered at 120 White Plains Road on a 10-acre parcel that included the Manor House. To complete the move within a narrow four-month time frame, the deal required a subdivision and zoning board and planning board approvals.

New Jersey-based Normandy Real Estate Partners, owner of The Exchange office-park portfolio in Harrison and White Plains, received the Comeback Building of the Year award for 2500 Westchester Ave. in Purchase.

Built in 1984, the four-story 177,000-square-foot office building “has had significant capital improvements and tremendous leasing buzz this past year,” BOMA officers said. More than 45,000 square feet of leases were completed, including Quorum Federal Credit Union”™s relocation to a 22,000-square-foot office there.

Ten employees at Reckson Metro Center in downtown White Plains were honored with BOMA”™s Signature Building Team of the Year award. The 360 Hamilton Ave. property is the flagship building of Reckson, a division of SL Green Realty Corp.

Tom Giantomidis, building property manager, accepted the award for his team.

 

Multifamily giant opens in Westchester

Seeing opportunity in low vacancy rates and high rents, Wood Partners L.L.C., a national developer of high-density multifamily housing based in Atlanta has opened a branch office at 777 Westchester Ave. in White Plains.

The office is the 16th opened by the 15-year-old company in a major U.S. market. Ray Smith, a commercial loan and real estate finance specialist, will manage it.

Smith said Wood Partners is targeting New York”™s “millennial generation,” some 80 million young adults who, studies indicate, are more inclined to rent than buy.  With billions of dollars in student loan debt and a still sluggish job market, they are likely to be renting rather than buying for the foreseeable future, he added

Wood Partners CEO Ryan Dearborn said the national home ownership rate peaked at 69 percent in 2004 and is likely to continue falling after dropping to 66 percent by 2011. With rising apartment occupancy and rental rates, “Multifamily asset values have been rising as well, with interest rates and capitalization rates at or near historic lows.”

Woods Partners”™ current national portfolio includes nearly 20,000 apartment rental units.

 

IT firm moves

KL Tech Consulting L.L.C., a provider of managed information technology services for small and midsize businesses, has moved its Westchester headquarters and service operations from Hartsdale to White Plains.

Managing partners, Bryan LaMarca and Adam Karp signed a 5,000-square-foot lease at 77 Tarrytown Road.

 

[Editor’s note: This article was updated May 10 to include additional real estate news.]