Starwood Expands Westchester Operations by 50,000 SF

WHITE PLAINS-The owner of 1133 Westchester Ave. here says that Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. has signed a new lease for an additional 50,000 sf of space at the building.

RPW Group president Robert Weisz, speaking before the Commercial Investment Division of the Westchester County Board of Realtors on Thursday, said that Starwood had expanded its presence at his nearly 700,000-sf building to a total of 120,000 sf. The hotelier maintains its corporate headquarters at the nearby 1111 Westchester Ave. office building.

Last year RPW Group acquired the property from IBM and announced that it would convert the former single-tenant building into a multi-use building. IBM is the other tenant at the building occupying approximately 70,000 sf.

Glenn Walsh, senior director of Cushman & Wakefield, represented the RPW Group in the transaction. Neal B. Golden, senior vice president and director of US development and Ross M. Pearlman, associate director, of Newmark Knight Frank in New York City represented Starwood in its expansion transaction. Starwood officials could not be reached for comment at deadline.

Weisz said at the Board of Realtors’ event that he currently is in negotiations with a number of tenants for space totaling in excess of another 200,000 sf of space at 1133 Westchester Ave. He is also seeking approvals from the City of White Plains for a 150-room long-term stay hotel at the property. Weisz added that he plans to build another 200,000-sf to 250,000-sf office building at the 75-acre campus sometime in the future.

He said he expects a “very fast leasing process” at 1133 Westchester Ave., similar to the success he achieved recently with the conversion of the former Altria Group property at 800 Westchester Ave. in Rye Brook into a multi-tenanted building.