Last week, Yonkers Mayor Phil Amicone threw away the key to the city”™s new Residence Inn by Marriott, a gesture that indicates “open for business.”
The $31 million hotel, located at 7 Executive Blvd., is the second hotel to open in the city this year.
“The opening of the Residence Inn by Marriott ”“ the second hotel in less than six months and providing a whole new option for business travelers with long term stay needs ”“ is a great boost for the city of Yonkers,” said Ellen Lynch, president & CEO of the Yonkers Industrial Development Agency (IDA). “This new hotel will solidify Yonkers”™ position as the premier business travel hub in Westchester, attracting travelers from across the region, providing event planners with a first-class lodging option to host meetings and conventions, as well as generating jobs and tax revenue. The Marriott is another example of how the Yonkers IDA works with perspective businesses to develop strategic tax incentives that can enable them to flourish in our community.”
Â
The hotel, designed by Boston-based Group One Inc. and developed by an affiliate of Kansas-based True North Hotel Group, was made possible through incentives granted by the Yonkers IDA, which included a payment in lieu of real property taxes (PILOT) agreement, mortgage recording tax exemption and sales and use tax exemption for construction materials.
Â
According to the IDA, the project created 40 permanent jobs.
“This particular site is in the corner of Westchester County, so this was an opportunity to tap into the Westchester market as well as the Yonkers market, which has been underserved for so many years,” said Lew Wiens, president of True North Hotel Group.
On Oct. 15, Wiens joined Amicone, hotel general manager Howard Gerhardt and other city officials to cut the ribbon to officially open the 144-room, four-story hotel, which features 117 studios, 19 one-bedroom and eight two-bedroom accommodations equipped with full kitchens. The hotel also offers a business center, meeting facilities, shuttle service, on-site parking, a fitness center, an indoor pool and complimentary breakfast for hotel guests.
“I was talking to a family from Switzerland and they just booked this hotel because it”™s close to New York City,” said Yonkers City Council President Chuck Lesnick. “They had no idea what Yonkers was or that we even had a community here. By the time I finished telling them about the Hudson River Museum and some of the local restaurants and attractions, they thought, ”˜Well, maybe we don”™t have to go into the city every day.”™ We”™re going to do our part to make sure that when people come here they really explore the city.”
