Yonkers Development Moves Forward Again

YONKERS, NY-In a sign of the times, the city's Industrial Development Agency gave the go-ahead last week to a pair of projects that will help revitalize downtown Yonkers. The Rising, headed by developer Nicholas Sprayregen, is a $22-million plan to redevelop what Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano—who also chairs the IDA—has called “long-existing eyesores” in downtown Yonkers into lofts, retail and restaurant space. And a long-stalled multifamily condominium project, the River Club, will break ground later this year as a pair of rental apartment towers in northwest Yonkers.

The projects were delayed by both the economic downturn and a political climate that arguably worked against development. Under Spano, who will participate in the “Dynamic Development and Redevelopment” panel discussion at RealShare Westchester Fairfield Counties on August 15 at the Crowne Plaza in White Plains, that has changed.

“When I took office in 2012, the city's development plans were stalled,” Spano writes in a guest editorial published in the Yonkers Daily Voice. “Big projects were on the drawing board, but going no further. Now we're taking a new approach to business and development. We're providing faster turnaround times from city planners, creating incentive packages that make sense for taxpayers and developers and kick-starting projects that will mean new stores and businesses, new jobs and homes and new families moving to Yonkers.”

Spano notes that the River Club project in particular, which will create 330 rental units, will help bolster the tax rolls. “And that's the key—strengthening the city's tax base,” writes Spano. “Yonkers' financial health cannot depend on how much the city can cut services to save money, or how much the city can raise taxes to bring in more money. We will never cut or tax our way to prosperity; we must grow our way to a more prosperous future. “

The future was also on the mayor's mind this past May when he signed the Yonkers Green Buildings ordinance, establishing a policy for the city to design and construct its facilities to be sustainable while encouraging commercial and residential developers to do the same. “Municipal governments need to assume the leadership role in promoting energy efficiency,” Spano said in May. “We are all responsible for our current environment, and now we must be part of the solution.”