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YONKERS, N.Y. The city has approved a plan that will reshape a portion of downtown Yonkers.
The Yonkers Industrial Development Agency gave initial approvals Wednesday for more than $500,000 in tax breaks to a $22 million redevelopment project, dubbed Mill Street Courtyard, that will turn five Mill and Main Street properties into a series of lofts, retail and restaurant space.
This continues the rebirth of the downtown and waterfront as a destination for new businesses and new residents, said Mayor Mike Spano who chairs the YIDA, adding, Developers with vision increasingly see Yonkers as a great opportunity.
The redevelopment of the properties, owned by Manhattan business man Nicholas Sprayregens Rising Development, constitutes phase one of Sprayegens two-part Yonkers Rising development plan. Developers expect the project to be completed in two years and provide 134 jobs.
The properties to be converted include:
- 27 Main St., which will become 7,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.
- 13 Main St. and the adjacent 2 Mill St., which will become 25,000 square feet of live/work lofts plus 6,000 square feet of retail space.
- 36 and 38 Main St., which will become 15 live/work lofts on the upper floors plus 4,000 square feet of café and retail space on the ground floors.
- A vacant building at 24 Warburton Ave., which will be demolished to provide a pedestrian passageway linking the new Larkin Plaza park created by the Daylighting Project with the Mill Street courtyard.
Spano praised Sprayegen for creating a plan that will tie together the essential elements of downtown Yonkers.
This project links the waterfront, Larkin Plaza and Main Street in a pedestrian-friendly way with living, retail and restaurant space, Spano said.
Developers tabbed the project with a budget of roughly $11 million, plus another $3.8 million for furnishings, fit-out and equipment. Combined with property acquisition of approximately $7.6 million, the total project cost is $22.4 million.
In an effort to help developers, the Yonkers IDA Board has agreed to provide a mortgage tax exemption as well as sales and use tax exemptions on the materials used in the renovation. The IDA will also provide approximately $451,000 in sales-tax and use-tax exemptions and $79,000 in mortgage-tax exemptions.
In addition, the YIDA will later negotiate a property-tax abatement.
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