Office markets are often defined by a particular industry or a common identity. The significant growth of the Westchester office market that occurred from the late 1960s through the mid 1980s was propelled by the relocation of numerous corporate headquarters from Manhattan to campus office parks in the suburbs. The goal was to get away from New York”™s urban core that was struggling during that period. Among the key corporations that relocated were large employers and their moves triggered a second wave of growth from smaller companies providing services and support to the large companies. The I-287 corridor was a key beneficiary of this trend, thereby earning its title as the Platinum Mile. Preeminent corporations like Texaco, General Foods and IBM among others established major facilities along Westchester Avenue.
Over time, however, conditions changed: fewer companies relocated due to Manhattan”™s strong recovery. Some companies either decided to move away from the Platinum Mile, relocated as a result of having been acquired or reduced the footprint of their headquarters. Leasing activity slowed and persistent vacancies were recorded. Furthermore, many of the original office buildings were deemed inferior compared with new buildings and not competitive in the new workplace.
In recent years the I-287 corridor was re-imagined. A number of properties have been redeveloped for alternative uses such as apartments, retail and educational. A significant change has been the incredible expansion of medical-related use. Factors contributing to this have been the consolidation of physician offices from small individual practices into large combined entities such as Westmed that provide a full range of medical services. Today, medicine commands a strong presence in various facilities along the corridor. Another factor promoting medical-related growth has been the shift to greater ambulatory care and away from hospital-delivered service. Lastly, the aging of the area population has encouraged the growth in medical services. Replacing the corporate behemoths of the past on the I-287 corridor are some of the most recognizable names in medical services. They include:
- NewYork-Presbyterian, which last year purchased the office park at 1111 Westchester Ave. with two buildings on 25 acres that formerly had been occupied by PepsiCo;
- Montefiore Hospital, which leased approximately 118,000 square feet at 104 Corporate Park Drive for a health care center;
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, which occupies 114,000 square feet at 500 Westchester Ave.;
- The Hospital for Special Surgery, which leases 50,000 square feet at 1133 Westchester Ave.
Probably the most noteworthy is the size and fast growth of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, which has purchased and expanded former properties occupied by Union Carbide and IBM. No less noteworthy is White Plains Hospital, which has various satellite operations on the I-287 corridor besides its fast-expanding facilities in downtown White Plains. The hospital recently announced plans to tear down its Davis Avenue garage to make way for a new hospital building.
Like the earlier experience of the corporate entities the large medical establishments have attracted numerous smaller medical-related companies to lease space along the corridor, confirming the agglomeration effect.
The transition from primarily a corporate environment to one with a dominant medical-related services presence was slow in coming but reestablishes the I-287 corridor as an economic powerhouse and attests to the dynamic rebirth of the “Platinum Mile.”
John E. Sheehan is a principal of Delmhorst & Sheehan Inc., a real estate advisory and brokerage firm. He is also an adjunct instructor at Fordham University”™s Graduate Program in Real Estate.
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