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Neighbor News

partially vacant office building on Route 119 could be converted -self storage facility (near Tarrytown)

Should the town authorize some struggling office buildings to be converted into residential?

At the Greenburgh Town Board work session this week we discussed the redevelopment of 540 White Plains Road – a partially vacant office building – that could be redeveloped into a self storage business. The location is near the Tarrytown border-close to the Sheraton Hotel/Stop & Shop supermarket.

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This would require a special permit from the Town Board. This appears to be a low-impact proposal.

Procedurally there are numerous steps due to the connected nature of the building and the applicant's desire for a subdivision (Planning Board approval).

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While self-storage proposals are low-impact (do not generate traffic/substantial noise, etc.) they do not add to the vibrancy of an office park, which unfortunately is not a typical regulating criteria.

I believe that we should explore allowing other vacant office buildings at this office park to be converted to residential uses. I recall that Tarrytown did something similar a few years back. I also suggested that this could be a good time to encourage landowners to install electric charging stations and solar parking canopies in their parking complexes. We need to make our community more sustainable.

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