Orange County is one of the fastest-growing counties in New York State and, for more than a decade, we have been seeing a boom in economic activity. But we’ve reached a fork in the road. We must invest in our infrastructure and expand the Route 17 corridor to ensure our quality of life and economic…
Read MoreALBANY—Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the State Legislature reached an agreement over the weekend on a $175.5-billion FY 2020 state budget that makes the 2% property tax cap permanent and enacts a number of revenue raisers, including congestion pricing for sections of Manhattan, for the beleaguered Metropolitan Transportation Authority to fund capital upgrades to New York…
Read MoreRYE BROOK—Custom merchandising design and development firm POP Displays USA LLC, which is based on Tuckahoe Road in Yonkers, will be relocating its corporate headquarters from Yonkers to George Comfort & Sons, Inc.’s Kingsbrook office complex here within the next three months. POP Displays, which is currently headquartered at 555 Tuckahoe Road in Yonkers, has…
Read MoreYONKERS—The Yonkers Industrial Development Agency reported on March 25 it had approved four projects for incentives that will create 100 new housing units and finance the purchase and rehabilitation of a 301-unit apartment building in the city. The four developments amount to approximately $108.3 million in private investment and will create 156 construction jobs and…
Read MoreNEW CITY—At a press conference on March 26, Rockland County Executive Ed Day declared a county-wide State of Emergency relating to the ongoing measles outbreak that went into effective at midnight, Wednesday, March 27. The state of emergency bars anyone under 18 years of age and unvaccinated against the measles from public places until the…
Read MoreNEW YORK—City and state officials announced on March 18 that Great Performances, the city’s largest woman-owned catering and food services firm, will be relocating operations from Hudson Street in New York City to the South Bronx. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced that as part of the relocation, Great Performances will create 181 new jobs and…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—The day business, political and real estate leaders have dreaded has arrived—on March 15 most of Westchester County was included in a new natural gas connection moratorium imposed by utility Con Edison. Amid charges by many that the moratorium will delay and perhaps kill billions of dollars in new development projects and thousands of…
Read MoreMONTICELLO—The old gaming adage: “The House always wins,” doesn’t apply yet to the Hudson Valley’s only full-licensed casino gaming resort. The $1.2-billion Resorts World Catskills Casino Resort lost nearly $139 million last year and a total of $185 million in the last two years. According to a 10K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission…
Read MoreELMSFORD-Robert Martin Co., one of the pioneer commercial office real estate development firms in Westchester County, has confirmed plans to reacquire approximately 95% of the portfolio it developed here and in Fairfield County, CT and sold more than two decades ago in a deal valued at $487.5 million. Industry observers say the deal, if finalized,…
Read MoreALBANY—New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released a report earlier this month that showed foreclosures in New York State are on the decline and court filings are in nearly 50% below near peak levels posted six years ago. Mortgage foreclosure filings across New York dropped 46% between 2013 and 2018, from 46,696 to 25,334, according…
Read MoreWASHINGTON—The evolving technological landscape, competition from non-traditional market participants and housing affordability continue to be among the biggest challenges facing real estate firms in the next two years, according to a report by the National Association of Realtors. NAR's 2019 Profile of Real Estate Firms released on March 6 found that commercial real estate firms…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—A real estate attorney speaking before a group of Westchester County commercial brokers said the moratorium on new natural gas connections slated to go into effect on March 15 “is here to stay.” Officials with Con Edison—the utility that is imposing the moratorium—who participated in the discussion did not disagree. More than 100 attendees…
Read MoreALBANY—A coalition consisting of more than 100 business, civic, political and labor industry interests are calling for New York State to spend a total of $500 million to expand the existing Route 17 in Orange and Sullivan counties. Specifically, the organization is calling for a multi-year plan to construct a third lane in each direction…
Read MoreJames G. Houlihan, a real estate industry veteran of 69 years, who served as president of the Bronx Board of Realtors and the New York State Association of Realtors, passed away at the age of 95 on March 2. Houlihan, a longtime resident of Bronxville, NY and Palm Beach, FL, started his first job in…
Read MoreNEW YORK—The Regional Plan Association released a report on Tuesday that put a hefty price tag—$16 billion—if the controversial Gateway Rail Tunnel project fails to secure the necessary financing to move forward. The RPA in its report entitled “A Preventable Crisis: The Economic and Human Costs of a Hudson River Rail Tunnel Shutdown” calculated that…
Read MoreNEW YORK—Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who have historically been at odds on a host of issues, agree on one thing—the Metropolitan Transportation Agency needs to be reformed. On Feb. 26, Cuomo and de Blasio released a 10-point plan to reform the MTA and to create sustained funding streams…
Read MoreNANUET—Nyack College has announced it will postpone the planned relocation of its undergraduate programs from its campus in Rockland County to Lower Manhattan until early 2020. In an announcement to students on the college’s website, Nyack College President Michael G. Scales stated that the college had delayed the planned relocation of its undergraduate program to…
Read MoreBUCHANAN—Until recently, the major energy issue facing Westchester County and the Hudson Valley/New York City region was the impending closure of the nuclear reactors at Indian Point in the next two years. However, that was before Con Edison announced its plan to impose a moratorium on new natural gas connections for most of the county…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—A.S.A.P. Mortgage, which is headquartered in Cortland Manor, has embarked on a significant expansion effort of late that has included the opening of new offices in New York City and White Plains and the launch of a new commercial finance division. In addition, the company reports its intent to open additional locations in the…
Read MoreEditor’s Note: The following was the testimony given by John Ravitz, executive vice president and chief operating officer of The Business Council of Westchester, at a hearing of the New York State Public Service Commission at a hearing at the White Plains Library on Feb. 13. Good evening. My name is John Ravitz. I am…
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