WHITE PLAINS—Two well-known Westchester planning and engineering firms who provide land use and project design services for many development projects in Westchester County and the New York metro and Hudson Valley regions have joined forces. Divney Tung Schwalbe, a White Plains-based planning, civil engineering and landscape architectural firm, and Provident Design Engineering, a traffic, transportation…
Read MoreALBANY—Wall Street’s run of prosperity extended into the first half of 2021 with $31 billion in pre-tax earnings, beating 2020’s outsized first half profits of $27.6 billion, even as job losses accelerated in New York City’s securities industry, according to State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli’s annual report on Wall St.’s performance released recently. “Wall Street’s…
Read MoreALBANY —The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation announced today (Oct. 27) that it had denied key air permits for the $500-million Danskammer Energy Center project in Newburgh and the Astoria Gas Turbine Power project in Queens. The two projects were widely supported by business and labor sectors, but were opposed by environmental groups…
Read MorePELHAM—With the COVID pandemic hopefully winding down, the Westchester County real estate markets are at a crossroads with some sectors booming and others struggling to adapt to changing consumer and tenant needs. What better person to talk to about these turbulent times than Joseph Apicella, the longtime right-hand man to high-profile Westchester developer Louis Cappelli…
Read MoreA panel of experts charged with identifying the industries that will reimagine Westchesteridentified a host of emerging sectors, including e-commerce, cannabis legalization, adaptive reuse, as well as the biosciences and health care as the catalysts for economic growth in the coming years in Westchester County. One industry expert predicts that Tarrytown-based Regeneron Pharmaceuticals will lead…
Read MoreALBANY—While there is still a long way to go before any official award, the New York State Gaming Commission has issued a Request for Information from interested parties for either developing or operating three downstate New York casinos in the New York metro region. While this is good news for downstate casino advocates, the RFI…
Read MoreTUCKAHOE—Valon Nikci, president and principal broker of Link NY Realty of Bronxville, reports it represented the buyer in the $8-million purchase of 269-273 Columbus Ave. in Tuckahoe. The undisclosed buyer is a New York City landlord. The mixed-use property totals 34,888 square feet and features residential, office and retail uses. The new owner plans to…
Read MoreNEW YORK—The COVID-19 pandemic wiped out years of growth in New York City’s office sector, erasing nearly $28.6 billion in market value and more than $850 million in property taxes in City Fiscal Year (FY) 2022. Timing its recovery is an open question, however, as employers continue to offer work-from-home options, according to a report…
Read MoreORANGEBURG—Dallas-based DataBank reported recently it had acquired 34 acres of land in Orangeburg and will build its fifth data center in the New York metro area. By purchasing the property, which includes a utility-owned substation capable of providing up to 45 MW of utility power, DataBank states the project will further its strategy of owning…
Read MoreCOOPERSTOWN, NY—Bridget Gibbons, Emily Marcus, and Zoë Nelson were elected to serve their first two-year terms on the New York State Economic Development Council (NYSEDC) Board of Directors at its 2021 annual meeting held in Cooperstown this week. Additionally, nine board members were re-elected to the NYSEDC board. Gibbons is the Westchester County Director of…
Read MoreNEW YORK—Mitsui Fudosan America and Newmark announced on Oct. 6 three recently completed leasing transactions totaling more than 230,000 square feet at 1251 Ave. of the Americas bringing the 54-story office tower to 99% leased. The building has maintained strong leasing momentum despite pandemic-induced tenant uncertainty that has stalled leasing activity in other parts of…
Read MoreNEW YORK—The Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced on Sept. 27 that the environmental review process for the Metro-North Penn Station Access Project is complete. The milestone makes four new stations in the Bronx as well as direct Metro-North service to Penn Station from the Bronx, Westchester, and Connecticut a step closer to reality. On Sept. 24,…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—A man who for more than three decades was a driving force behind the growth and growing respect of the Westchester County Board of Realtors has died. P. Gilbert Mercurio, who led the Westchester County Board of Realtors and its successor organization the Westchester Putnam Association of Realtors for 31 years as its chief…
Read MoreMIDDLETOWN—If any attendees at the Sept. 21 Investor Breakfast of the Orange County Partnership were questioning the strength of the county’s economy, any misgivings were wiped away by the breadth of the positive data and forecasts offered by economic development, government and business experts at the event. Orange County Partnership President and CEO Maureen Halahan…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—Berkeley College has put two White Plains buildings that formerly served as its Westchester campus on the market for sale. The availability of the properties at 99 Church St. and 6 Cottage Place in Downtown White Plains was announced by commercial brokerage firm RM Friedland, which is marketing the campus. Berkeley College, a provider…
Read MoreNEW YORK—Commercial brokerage firm JLL announced on Sept. 17 that its Capital Markets group arranged $381 million in construction financing for the development of Bronx Logistics Center, a Class A, two-story last-mile distribution facility totaling 1.3 million square feet in the Bronx. JLL worked on behalf of the developer, a partnership between Turnbridge Equities and…
Read MoreNEW YORK—In a major step to convert the state’s energy grid to green, New York State has selected two major green energy infrastructure projects that will cost $8.2 billion to develop and help bring wind, solar and hydropower from Upstate New York and Canada to New York City. The two projects involve a total of…
Read MorePOUGHKEEPSIE—The cost of adding a third lane on a 47-mile stretch of Route 17 from Harriman to Monticello in each direction is now being estimated at anywhere from $525 million to as high as $1.04 billion, depending on the scope of the improvements to be undertaken. The latest project cost estimates were revealed at the…
Read MoreALBANY—According to preliminary figures released today by the New York State Department of Labor, the number of private sector jobs in New York State increased over the month by 28,000, or 0.4%, to 7,519,400 in August 2021. By comparison, the number of private sector jobs in the U.S. increased by 0.2% in August 2021. New…
Read MoreGOSHEN—Three former officials with the Orange County Industrial Development Agency paid nearly $1.27 million in restitution to the agency as part of plea agreements that afforded them no jail time for their acts of corruption. Vincent Cozzolino, Laurie Villasuso and Edward Diana were sentenced on Friday before Judge Robert Prisco in Orange County Court. Cozzolino,…
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