October 24, 2018
Townhome sales, foundation construction to start at development on former GM site
Akiko Matsuda
Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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SLEEPY HOLLOW – Sales of the first townhomes to be built at the former General Motors assembly plant site are expected to start early November.
Toll Brothers, a home construction company in charge of building the first 15-acre phase of the 70-acre waterfront development, has recently set up an onsite sales gallery at the heart of the phase-one community.
The waterfront property has sat vacant for nearly two decades since General Motors’ assembly plant was demolished in the late 1990s.
Earlier this year, the Edge-on-Hudson master developers — California-based SunCal and New Jersey-based Diversified Realty Advisors — constructed a traffic circle at the bottom of Beekman Avenue, leading to the development site. From there, visitors can now drive on a paved street to access the sales center.
Just steps away from the sales office, workers are ready to start building foundations for the first several townhomes.
Until those model units become available, prospective buyers can get a feel for the project through a 360-degree virtual reality tour available at the sales center.
A total of 1,400 people signed up for the “Brownstones at Edge-on-Hudson” VIP list, said James Fitzpatrick of Toll Brothers, with about 600 expressing interest in townhomes, he said. The first group of visitors will be those people who have signed up for the list.
“We’ll reach out to those folks first,” he said. “We want to make sure anyone on the list who’re interested in moving forward has an opportunity to do so before opening our doors.”
People can still sign up for the list by visiting Toll Brothers’ website.
Townhomes, ranging from 2,400 square feet to more than 3,000 square feet, will be priced at about $1.2 million and up, Fitzpatrick said.
In addition to 72 luxury townhomes, 46 condominiums and 188 rental apartments will be built in the first phase.
The builder will work on the first several townhomes throughout the winter, while architects design condominiums, said Fitzpatrick, who noted that first residents in the community may move in by the end of next year.
The waterfront development is expected to attract both young professionals and matured couples, including empty nesters, Fitzpatrick said.
“If you build very compelling homes with styles in a neighborhood that has a real sense of place, that is a very compelling value proposition to a lot of customers,” he said.
If all built according to the plans, Edge-on-Hudson would become like a small village, encompassing 1,177 units of housing; a 140-room boutique hotel; 135,000 square feet of retail space and 30,000 square feet of office space.
While Toll Brothers working on the first-phase home construction, the master developers have begun working on the infrastructure for the second phase of the development.
The site plans for the next phase are still being reviewed by the village’s planning board. If approved, it would consist of a waterfront building containing 97 condominiums and another larger building with 245 rental apartments. The waterfront building would also include two retail spaces and a restaurant, according to Jonathan Stein, managing partner of Diversified Realty Advisors.
“Things have really accelerated from the construction perspective in the past six months,” said Stein, whose history with the site’s development goes back to 1998. “It’s been a long time coming.”