Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.”™s plans for a major expansion in Westchester have taken another step forward.
The Greenburgh town board approved the biopharmaceutical company”™s site plan application for a 1 million-square-foot research and development campus on approximately 35 acres of a vacant 100-acre parcel at 555 Saw Mill River Road.
On Nov. 8, the board found that the proposed project would not have significant negative environmental impacts.
“This recent site plan approval will provide us the flexibility to potentially expand our (research and development) campus in the future as needed,” said Alexandra Bowie, director of corporate communications for Regeneron.
Purchased in 2015 for $73 million by Loop Road Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of Regeneron, the property adjoins the company”™s headquarters at The Landmark at Eastview. The parcel is on the west side of Saw Mill River Road, approximately 300 feet from the intersection of Old Saw Mill River Road and Grasslands Road.
Regeneron, which stands as Greenburgh”™s largest employer, plans to construct nine buildings totaling 1,016,190 square feet of research and development space on the site, in addition to five parking structures. Building sizes will range from 40,000 square feet to 280,000 square feet.
Solar panels will be installed on some buildings on the property, and Regeneron plans to put in a central energy plant to service the entire site.
“The potential expansion will further cement the growth of this biotech cluster in the town of Greenburgh, Westchester County and New York state,” said town supervisor Paul Feiner, “and builds upon the vision laid out by the town board in the town of Greenburgh”™s comprehensive plan.”
Feiner added that the plan was designed to have a “village-like feel” and incorporates plaza space, outdoor collaboration areas and open space, along with environmentally sustainable buildings.
Shortly before Regeneron bought the parcel, the property was rezoned in April 2015 to “planned economic development,” which allows a broad range of uses, including research and development, office buildings, retail, restaurants, banks, recreation facilities, higher education facilities, hotels and conference centers.
According to the town”™s planning commissioner Garrett Duquesne, the company”™s proposal will now move to the planning board, which will make a decision on certain permits ”” including wetland, steep slope and tree removal ”” on Dec. 6.
Bowie said construction would likely be completed in a series of phases over 10 years.
Regeneron has been a tenant of The Landmark at Eastview, the former Union Carbide campus, since 1989. In 2015, Regeneron leased an additional 116,200 square feet of space in two existing buildings on the 140-acre life sciences campus and moved into two newly completed buildings, totaling 297,000 square feet of office and laboratory space, built by Biomed for Regeneron. Starting with roughly 12,000 square feet of space on the campus 27 years ago, Regeneron has grown to occupy more than 1.1 million square feet in seven buildings.
In December of last year, Regeneron agreed to pay $720 million to acquire its headquarters at The Landmark at Eastview from Biomed Realty L.P.
Biomed Realty in 2007 paid $98.5 million for the property from an affiliate of LCOR Inc., who had paid $82 million for the campus in late 1999.
Elsewhere in Westchester, Regeneron paid $50 million for the New York Life Insurance office and campus in Sleepy Hollow last year.
Employing about 2,500 workers at its Landmark at Eastview campus, the company has said that it expects to employ about the same number at its new site.
For the third quarter this year, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals reported total revenue of $1.5 billion, up 23 percent year over year. Net product sales were $953 million in the third quarter, up from $854 million in the third quarter of 2016.
