WHITE PLAINS—After negotiating a deal that mandates creating a voluntary fingerprint program for drivers, Westchester County allowed ride-sharing services such as Lyft and Uber to launch operations there. Gov. Cuomo signed legislation that allowed Lyft and Uber and other ride sharing services to begin upstate and on Long Island on June 29th. The legislation did…
Read MoreRYE BROOK—Residential real estate brokerage firm Houlihan Lawrence has announced several key executive level appointments and hires, including Anne Marie Gianutsos’ promotion to chief marketing officer and the hiring of Nicholas Fears, formerly of Coldwell Banker, New Jersey, as chief financial officer. “By expanding our C-Suite, Houlihan Lawrence continues to uphold its reputation as an…
Read MoreNEW YORK—Federal, state and county officials praised the recent U.S. Coast Guard’s decision to suspend a proposed new rule expanding anchorages on the Hudson River. On Wednesday (June 28th) U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Steven Poulin, Commander of the First Coast Guard District, reported that after reviewing more than 10,200 comments from stakeholders, the Coast…
Read MoreDOVER, NY—A massive energy project, which began its approval process nearly eight years ago, finally broke ground on Wednesday, June 28th on a 193-acre parcel of land on Route 22 here. Described as one of Dutchess County’s largest infrastructure projects in its history, Cricket Valley Energy, an affiliate of Advanced Power Services Inc. of Boston,…
Read MoreDOBBS FERRY, NY—Grocer Brooklyn Market is coming to Westchester County. The specialty retailer has filed for building permits and plans to open a new location at the new Rivertowns Square development off the Saw Mill River Parkway in Dobbs Ferry. The Williamsburg, Brooklyn-based retailer plans to open a new 18,000-square-foot store at the Rivertowns Square…
Read MoreNEW ROCHELLE—The New Rochelle City Council on Tuesday selected MacQuesten Development, LLC of Pelham as the winning bidder to develop a 27-story $110-million mixed-use building at the current site of the city’s Fire Station #1 at 45 Harrison St. New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson at a meeting of the Empire Chapter of the Women’s Council…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—Seth Pinsky, executive vice president with RXR Realty, which is building major multifamily projects in New Rochelle and Yonkers, believes that Westchester County is at a crossroads where it can either take advantage or miss out on the current investment climate. Pinsky, who was the guest speaker at the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors’…
Read MoreWASHINGTON— Existing U.S. home sales rebounded in May following a notable 2.3% decline in April, and low inventory levels helped propel the median sales price to a new high while pushing down the median days a home is on the market to a new low, according to a report released on June 21 by the…
Read MoreALBANY—The New York State Assembly and Senate passed the top legislative item on the Realtor agenda this legislative session—the First-Time Homebuyer Savings Account. The Assembly passed the measure on June 19th by a 142-1 vote with the only negative vote by Westchester County State Assembly Member Sandy Galef. The measure passed the Senate the same…
Read MoreNEW YORK—A civil jury has awarded Douglas Elliman approximately $5 million in damages in its court battle with rival brokerage firm William Raveis over allegations Raveis poached Elliman agents to its Armonk office, according to a report in the Real Deal. The trade publication reported that the jury awarded the monetary damages on Tuesday in…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—While developers have stepped up and broken ground on huge projects downtown and have ambitious mixed-use plans in all corners of the city, the City of White Plains has begun seeking investor interest in what will likely be the most attractive and strategically located transit-oriented parcels anywhere in the city. The development to be…
Read MoreBERKELEY, CA—Despite steadily improving local job markets and historically low mortgage rates, the U.S. homeownership rate is stuck near a 50-year low because of a perverse mix of affordability challenges, student loan debt, tight credit conditions and housing supply shortages. That’s according to findings of a new white paper titled, “Hurdles to Homeownership: Understanding the…
Read MorePEEKSKILL—Ginsburg Development Companies, joined with City of Peekskill and Westchester County officials on June 13 in breaking ground on a $64.5-million mixed-use project that will transform the former St. Mary’s convent property into a resort-style tourist destination. The new development will include luxury rentals apartments as well as a spa, hotel and restaurant. Called “Fort…
Read MoreNEW ROCHELLE— Political, civic and business officials from the City of New Rochelle were on hand for Monday’s groundbreaking for a new residential project whose name all but gives away its target market—the “Millennia.” New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson, along with officials from the New Rochelle Industrial Development Agency, the Community Preservation Corporation, and Tompkins…
Read MoreMOUNT VERNON– Trion Holdings, a Yonkers and New York City-based investment firm, announced earlier this month it had sold 55 Sheridan Ave. in Mount Vernon to 55 Sheridan Gardens LLC for $9.7 million. The closing on the property was on April 21, 2017. Trion Holdings sold the property after 13 years of ownership. The sale…
Read MoreLights, Camera Action! NEW YORK CITY—Construction began earlier this month on York Studios’ heralded $100-million “Michaelangelo Campus” film and television production complex in the Soundview section of the Bronx. A host of city and state officials were on hand for the groundbreaking ceremony for the project on May 6th including New York State Lt. Gov.…
Read MoreMOUNT VERNON—Multifamily investors, who have bypassed this storied Southern Westchester locale for decades for such Westchester cities as Yonkers, New Rochelle and White Plains, are finally taking notice of the City of Mount Vernon for both its opportunities and challenges. Mayor Richard Thomas, who took office in January 2016 on a platform of reform, an…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—Reports of the demise of bricks and mortar retail are premature, so says a panel of retail executives that appeared at the June 1st meeting of the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors’ Commercial Investment Division. The panel participants also agreed that while bricks and mortar retail faces many challenges today and in the future,…
Read MoreHAVERSTRAW—The Letchworth Village site here, once coveted by Legoland developer Merlin Entertainments for a major theme park, is back on the market for sale. The Town of Haverstraw has hired Cushman & Wakefield’s Capital Markets Group to market and eventually sell the 173-acre Letchworth Village development parcel. Developer Merlin Entertainments had considered the Letchworth Village…
Read MoreWASHINGTON—Declining for-sale home inventory may finally be catching up with the nation’s residential sales market. The National Association of Realtors reports that pending home sales in April fell for the second consecutive month. NAR in a report released on May 31st, stated that its Pending Home Sales Index fell 1.3% to 109.8 in April from…
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