Simone plans $2B project plus more

Simone Development Companies is planning a $2 billion, 2.5-million-square-foot expansion of its 1.8-million-square-foot Hutchinson Metro Center located just off the Hutchinson River Parkway south of the Westchester border with the Bronx, company President Joseph Simone told the Business Journal in an interview. The new construction would take place within the next 10 years on what’s referred to as the South Campus of the Metro Center.

“Most other office complexes are not like the Hutchinson Metro Center,” Simone said. “We have diversity in terms of retail, health care and education. Generally, other properties are more one-directional. The Bronx is kind of unique in terms of location. The Bronx is evolving. It has so much potential for growth because there’s a real void there. We have tremendous partners in terms generators for demand. We are not competitive with Westchester or Fairfield because this market is unique. We have a very high density of population and a large labor pool.”

Simone said that after the Metro Center is expanded the campus would involve 75 acres.

“We have a brand new MTA station starting construction within the next 60 days. That’s going to take you to Penn Station in 22 minutes,” Simone said “We intend to double what we have created here in the next 10 years. We have created 1.8 million square feet that did not exist here before.”

Featured on the current 42-acre Metro Center campus is Class A office and medical space, as well as retail space, dining and free parking. There is a 125-room Marriott Residence Inn, a Montefiore Medical Center ambulatory care center, and about 80 business, educational, health care and government operations employing more than 8,000 people.

“We intend to make this … one of the more important pieces of property in all of New York,” Simone said. “We intend to create a center of excellence that will be a combination of health care, life science, education and residential. It is so centrally located that the ability to service such a huge population of people, millions of people, to be able to come here with a relatively short commute time is huge. Plus, we have abundant parking, great highway access, public transportation. We’re on the Hutchinson River Parkway; 150,000 cars travel on that highway daily. We have 8,000 people currently working at the Metro Center campus. We get 3,500 visitors a day. You’re going to double that. This is a huge generator to the Borough of the Bronx. This is one of the most important projects ever in Bronx County.”

Simone emphasized the center’s strategic location by pointing out what when he stands on a balcony at the Metro Center he can see the Throgs Neck Bridge, Whitestone Bridge, George Washington Bridge and the Manhattan skyline. Nevertheless, he said the Metro Center expansion will not diminish Simone Development’s interest in Westchester and Fairfield.

“We pride ourselves as to being highly involved in the New York Metropolitian Tri-State area,” Simone said. “We’re in Suffolk, Nassau, all of the boroughs, Southern Connecticut, Northern New Jersey, and Putnam, Rockland, Orange, but the population that we service within that geographic niche is huge. What helps us is that we understand the market. People who come from various parts of the country do not always understand the barriers to developing and doing things in the New York Metropolitan Tri-State area.”

Simone said that he considers himself fortunate to be able to work with his three daughters in Simone Development Companies.

Simone recently purchased the office building One Executive Plaza in Yonkers from an affiliate of the Robert Martin Company and is repurposing it into a state-of-the-art medical building. The 133,768-square-foot, 4-story building is close to Simone’s Boyce Thompson Center that features retail and medical uses. Simone reports that its medical office building at 1084 North Broadway is fully leased. One Executive Plaza is near to Simone Development’s 1034 North Broadway, a 25,000-square-foot recently renovated multi-tenant medical building that includes Northwell Health as well as Trust Specialty Pharmacy.

In Greenwich, another Simone success has been 644 West Putnam Ave., which offers 19,000 square feet of ground floor retail space and 20,000 square feet of second floor office/medical/retail space.

“The model that we are trying to shift to is truly ‘health care,'” Simone said “Right now there is a model of ‘sick care.’ How about we try to keep people healthy? How about we have nutrition, behavioral health, dermatology, dentistry, all sorts of things. Health care is critical. What’s more important than feeling healthy? What’s more important than feeling good? Nothing.”

Simone said that he believes a fundamental part of what he does in real estate is to find needs and fill them and he has found there is an overwhelming need for facilities that provide easy access to health care.

“We’re able through modern technology and medicine to extend life longer,” Simone said. “You want the quality of that to go with it. You need comprehensive facilities that can keep up with it.”

He said that among the things that make attractive converting an office building to medical uses are the potential for long-term leases and the steady demand for health care facilities. He said that converting office buildings into apartment buildings can be difficult because of design and structural issues. Simone said it’s important to maintain a diverse portfolio of real estate and added that he sees strong demand now and in the future for flex space and distribution warehousing.

“If you understand the concepts and understand what the health care systems are trying to achieve and what they’re up against, we’re facilitators to help this all happen,” Simone said. “We recognize the challenges of the health care systems. They have to become more efficient and do things more effectively. We are trying very hard to help them get many of these services away from a hospital.”

Simone has a definite interest in personally promoting the importance of good health: he’s is a member of the American Heart Association’s New York City Board of Directors and recently was named chairman of the organization’s 2024 Heart of New York City campaign.