Apartment, Hotel Plans Approved In Yonkers

The Yonkers Industrial Development Agency approved a series of tax incentives Tuesday night for the demolition and site remediation of Teutonia Hall, a 121-year-old building on Buena Vista Avenue.  When completed, the hall will become the site of a 25-story residential tower with 412 units and a 550-space parking garage.

Teutonia Hall was one of two projects, the other being the Hyatt Place Hotel at the Cross County Shopping Center, to be given YIDA tax incentives Tuesday.

“These projects represent the different types of investment happening in Yonkers today,” Mayor Mike Spano, who chairs the YIDA, said in a statement. “On the one hand a thriving shopping center is improving, and on the other a long-vacant building will provide new housing.”

The $8-million renovation and cleanup of the Teutonia Hall site, a designated brownfield, is expected to begin early next year.  As part of that, the YIDA authorized $144,000 in a mortgage-tax abatement and $335,000 in a sales-tax exemption on construction materials.

The developers of the Teutonia project, Metro Partners, plan to demolish much of the aging music hall while preserving its historic facade. The facade will later become the front of the parking garage.

The plan also includes the redevelopment of the adjacent three-story Trolley Barn, plus three existing residential buildings.

Phase two of the plan, the estimated $173 million construction of the residential units, is expected to begin later next year. 

As for Hyatt Place, it was first announced at a city Planning Board meeting earlier this month that the national brand would be moving into the Cross County location.

Developer’s $26 million plan includes transforming an existing office tower into a 155-room hotel.

While the YIDA had given the initial go-ahead for the project in July, Tuesday’s action was the final vote necessary for the agency IDA to provide assistance and set the project in motion.

The YIDA agreed to provide a $266,220 mortgage-tax abatement and an estimated $775,023 sales-tax exemption on construction materials.

City officials said the project will create 80 construction jobs during the 18 month construction period and 28 full-time jobs once the hotel has been built.

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