Though still a work in progress, developer Robert P. Weisz”™s latest venture in office-building amenities and palatial ceiling heights, 1133 Westchester Ave., elicited more than a few admiring oohs and ahs last week from a chorus of breakfast-served visitors. In its newly built 30,000-square-foot glass atrium, the head of RPW Group Inc. graciously received their compliments.
“I”™ve been in this business for 30 years,” Weisz told the stand-up coffee-drinking crowd of commercial real estate brokers, office building owners and economic development officials, “and there is probably no other project that has given me as much excitement and satisfaction as this one has.”
The occasion was the annual Hudson Valley Showcase of real estate sponsored by the Hudson Valley Economic Development Corp., the 4-year-old regional marketing group based in New Windsor. The 1133 Westchester Ave. building was among 35 commercial properties showcased from Westchester, Dutchess, Ulster, Orange, Rockland, Greene and Columbia counties.
Formerly the headquarters of IBM Corp., the RPW Group paid $76 million last year to acquire the 625,000-square-foot building on 74 acres along the I-287 corridor in White Plains. Tenants include IBM, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc. and, most recently, Handy and Harman Inc. Weisz said several prospective tenants, including a Dallas, Texas, company, are expected to sign leases for the building”™s 425,000 square feet of available office space, which was priced in showcase listings at $34 per square foot.
The IBM-owned building came with a great infrastructure, Weisz told his real estate colleagues. “Unfortunately, the carpeting, the paint, was probably original, so we had a lot of work to do,” he added.
Weisz said that with improvements he has invested “in excess of $100 million” in the property. The ongoing renovations will add about 100,000 square feet in amenities, including an indoor and outdoor cafeteria, executive dining room with waiter service, fitness center with personal trainer, masseuse and aerobic classes, car wash, sundry shop, dry cleaner, bank branch, beauty salon and day care center.
Weisz also plans to spend $25 million to $30 million in the next two years to build an approximately 150-room extended-stay hotel on the grounds. He said he is talking with a few potential hotel operators.
With the hotel and the abundant on-site amenities, “You don”™t have to go home, so you can stay here,” he told the crowd.
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