SLEEPY HOLLOW, NY—General Motors has sold its96-acre former minivan assembly plant property here forapproximately $39.5 million. The deal puts the long-delayedredevelopment of the property that will include nearly 1,200residences at full build-out finally on the front burner.

The deal involving the sale of the site by General Motors to thejoint venture Lighthouse Landing Venture LLCconsisting of SunCal of Irvine, CA andDiversified Realty Advisors, LLC of Summit, NJclosed on Dec. 23. While parties to the transaction refused todisclose financial details of the transaction, SleepyHollow Mayor Ken Wray told Globest.com in a telephoneinterview that the parcel traded for approximately $39.5 million.The village will use the sale price to determine the assessed valueof the property and subsequently the taxes that will be paid on theparcel to the village. For many years the automaker's tax burdenwas based on a Payment in Lieu of Taxes arrangement. As part of thesale, the new ownership donated 28 acres on the eastern portion ofthe property for open space and municipal and public use, including16 acres on the waterfront.

Wray estimates it will take about a year to 18 months for thedevelopers to secure site plan approval and to begin constructionon the first phase of the project. General Motors shut down theminivan assembly plan in 1996 and since then the village and theautomaker have attempted to secure approvals for a massiveredevelopment of the parcel. Since that time environmentalremediation of the property has been completed. However, lawsuits,the recession and other factors have contributed to the lengthydelay. In December 2013, General Motors, SunCal and DiversifiedRealty Advisors signed a contract for the parcel. A year later thedeal closed.