A 100-acre parcel at the 270-acre Landmark at Eastview complex in Greenburgh could soon be home to a large-scale retail and hotel complex.
The town board officially accepted the proposal”™s revised environmental statement May 8 and scheduled a public hearing on that statement and on the site plan for June 12.
A municipal neighbor with traffic concerns, meantime, has been assured of a place at the planning table.
The town of Greenburgh accepted the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) of Eastview Holdings L.L.C., a subsidiary of LCOR Inc., a New York City-based, large-scale real estate and development company whose projects include Bank Street Commons in downtown White Plains and Terminal 4 at JFK Airport in Queens.
The complex would be adjacent to Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. headquarters at 777 Old Saw Mill River Road and next to the Madison Square Garden training complex where the New York Knicks, New York Rangers and New York Liberty practice.
LCOR has proposed a 125,450-square-foot retail complex along with a 110-room hotel and bank, with additional 286,000 square feet of retail consisting of two big box stores on 40 acres of the property.
A gas station has also been proposed.
LCOR originally purchased the property from Union Carbide Corp. in 1999 for $82 million when Union Carbide declared bankruptcy.
Town officials expressed support for the project, saying it will bring much needed property tax revenue to the town.
Supervisor Paul Feiner estimates it will bring in revenues ranging from $4.5 million to $7 million annually. LCOR estimates 750 construction jobs will be needed for the complex and the project will create 755 full-time jobs.
According to LCOR”™s DEIS, the proposed development will provide $2.47 million per year in tax revenues, with $734,510 going to the town and $1.1 million going to the Pocantico Hills Central School District.
“We are favorably inclined to support this project,” Feiner said. “It will bring in revenue with no impact on the school district. It will generate additional commercial businesses.”
Feiner said he thinks the complex will force the state to make much-needed improvements to Route 9A.
“It could finally come to fruition after decades of discussion,” Feiner said. “I think this is a very positive proposal. It won”™t have a major impact on residential properties.”
The town board is lead agency on the project. A public hearing will be held June 12 to discuss the DEIS and site plan. The town”™s Department of Community Development and Conservation is accepting written comments. The town board said rezoning discussions will take about six months and, if approved, it could take LCOR another year-plus to start construction. The town first adopted the DEIS in July 2012. A revised version was submitted May 1 and approved a week later.
“I see nothing but positives here,” Feiner said. “This will help us attract more biotech companies and lower our unemployment.”
Feiner said that projects like this show that Greenburgh is a desirable place for people to do business and hopes the project attracts more biotech companies to the complex.
Not everyone is laying out the welcome mat. Mount Pleasant Supervisor Joan Maybury has expressed her concerns about the project, fearing negative impacts to her town, which borders the property.
“I”™ve looked at it very closely,” Maybury said. “It may be too much mixed-use development for this location. I don”™t know how this road will be able to handle all of this traffic.”
Maybury said she hopes the town will be involved in the project. Feiner has said Mount Pleasant will have input on the zoning process.
In the DEIS, LCOR said the land use pattern will change, but it is not incompatible with biomedical and office uses already on the property.
“It is not anticipated that the proposed development will have a significant adverse impact on area land uses,” the DEIS said. “It will introduce compatible uses to the existing properties in a manner similar to the mixed-use pattern of development that exists throughout the Route 9A corridor.”
The supervisor fears a project like this could change the character of the neighborhood, which is not now home to big-box stores.
“You are putting these big-box stores right on the side of the road,” Maybury said. “People will have to go through Mount Pleasant to get here. This project should be under a lot of scrutiny.”
