Like many good Italian-American boys, Tony Guillaro woke up on the Sabbath and walked to West Harrison”™s St. Anthony of Padua Church to serve as an altar boy. Decked out in his Sunday best, he strolled down Columbus Avenue, passing a vacant plot of land, the remains of a broken-down past. While neighbors regarded the plot as unsightly, Guillaro saw its potential and years later he proved it to be more than just an empty lot.
Today, in between Harrison and Daniel streets sits the Villas at Silver Lake, a community of condominiums developed by Guillaro, president of Phoenix Industries of Bedford. It”™s no surprise Guillaro caught the construction bug, for the passion of development is in his blood.
“I have some relatives, the Arturi brothers, who built a lot of the homes on this hill,” said Guillaro. “So as I was growing up as a child, I used to watch them build, as well as my father. My father built our own house and we lived there for many years.”
After graduating with a degree in civil engineering from Westchester Community College, Guillaro went on to work for two heavy-construction outfits, one of which was Unicorn Contracting Inc., where he was vice president for many years.
“That started the ball rolling and I wanted to go out on my own and start Phoenix Industries,” said Guillaro.
Guillaro”™s company couldn”™t have been born at a better time. In 1989 when the market was “in that same dip we are in now,” he sought out properties to build on. While the market was in ashes, Guillaro was determined to rise above the descending trend and started building luxury homes and developments in Westchester and Fairfield, Conn., counties. Guillaro also took on the Florida market and built condominums in North Palm Beach. His efforts proved successful. As he said, “Hence the name: the Phoenix has arisen.”
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”˜Ethnic community”™
The lot where the Villas reside once belonged to the Amaducci family, “another Italian family, very ethnic community, and they had it in the family for many years and they had built garages, they built a little gas station on the corner and they rented out (the land) to three tenants,” Guillaro said. “It was a pool repair business, a towing business and a transmission shop.”
Recently, Guillaro tore down the buildings. “The community now has something nice to look at from when before they used to look at roofs of old buildings that were basically an eyesore and now they can look at new beautiful homes,” he said.
Prices start at $599,000 for three-bedroom basic model; a four-bedroom unit goes for up to $999,000.
“This project is a unique project in itself because it”™s not only offering a really good product at a reasonably good price, but in a tremendous location,” Guillaro said.
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He said he has three committed buyers and the project has been attracting a diverse group of people, “from the empty nester down to the single person.”
“One couple is relocating from Montreal. (After) doing some investigating they decided they wanted to relocate to this area. (One) will be working in White Plains so it”™s a perfect commute for them.”
While the Villas are “a small guy in a big market,” Guillaro said surrounding amenities like the new pool that”™s being built and the Leo Mintzer community center with a gym open to all residents, make the area desirable.
“We”™re only a little enclave of 18 homes, 18 units, but that”™s what”™s nice about it,” he said. “Some of the (prospective buyers) have expressed that they like that because it”™s not as big as some of these big complexes. You”™re surrounded by streets and you”™re on your own little property.”
Maintenance services will also be provided, he said. “All we have in our common charges and our common elements are landscaping the maintenance of the exterior of all the homes. So we”™re going to do the lawn cutting, the maintenance of the shrubs, and the snow-plowing, for now.”
Later on, Guillaro said, maintenance will be transferred to a management company.
The Villas have also been giving Donald Trump some competition.
“We”™ve got some people that actually have looked at living in the (Trump) tower and they”™ve made the decision that they wanted some type of suburban (setting) and a little bit of a backyard to put their barbecue grill,” said Guillaro. “When you live on the 11th floor, it”™s tough to barbecue out the window.”
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Subprime angle
As for the subprime debacle having an effect on residential market right now, Constance DeFilippis, co-owner of Gains Realty Inc. of White Plains said the issue, “is not as predominant here as it is in the rest of the country. It”™s unique when it comes to Westchester: What goes on in the rest of the country doesn”™t mean it”™s happening here.”
DeFilippis said the subprime only effects those who took out loans such as adjustable mortages or no-income-verification loans.
“Those are the people now in trouble financially,” she said.
Though “$999,000 is on the high end for that location,” according to DeFilippis, she said it takes the combination of “location, price and condition of the house” to make an offer to prospective customers.
“The type of product is important,” she said.
The Villas are expected to be completed by next summer. For more information, visit www.villasatsilverlake.com.
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