Yonkers, good neighbor, offering space at no cost

Real Estate Weekly, Oct 10, 2001 by Parke Chapman

Officials in Yonkers have offered to house businesses displaced by the World Trade Center attacks gratis as they search for permanent digs.

The Small Business Recovery Center, located near the New York State Thruway, was created with an inventory of 130,000 SF at the Ridge Hill office complex.

Phil Amicone, the deputy mayor of Yonkers, reportedly said that the SBRC was the brainchild of the city of Yonkers and the Empire State Development Corporation.

The mayor of Yonkers, John Spencer, issued a press release last week saying that Yonkers "is honored to work hand-in-hand with Governor Pataki to make facilities available for displaced at the Yonkers WTC Relocation Center."

Governor Pataki also issued a statement about the SBRC.

"By providing these companies with a place to work along with the basic tools to conduct business, the SBRC will enable them to get back on their feet and resume operations in New York State," said the release.

IBM and IKEA have both helped furnish the offices with computers and furniture.

News of the announcement was reportedly received negatively by "key officials" in the Giuliani administration, according to the Oct. 1 edition of the New York Post.

The article quoted an anonymous "key official" saying that "these are the people who want to initiate a 'no poaching' policy with New Jersey and Connecticut, so they won't steal New York businesses, and they're moving our businesses to Yonkers?"

Deputy Mayor Amicone did not return calls for comment.

In recent years, Yonkers has spent millions developing its CBD waterfront. It has also. marketed itself as an up and coming river town whose rents are far below those of Manhattan.

Cushman & Wakefield data indicates that Yonkers has a 5.3 percent commercial vacancy rate. The overall inventory of space here is 1,302,500 SF.