Biz Buzz: Westchester County Business News, November 29, 2016

William Raveis Real Estate Refreshes Brand

William Raveis Real Estate Mortgage & Insurance, which has several Westchester offices, has announced a freshening of the firm’s brand, including next-generation branding along with launches of state-of-the-art technology tools and promotional publications. Along with their new logo, the firm has introduced raveisescapes.com: a digital, interactive lifestyle magazine and property showcase featuring insider knowledge on destination points. The rebranding also includes Raveis 365, a powerful digital portal developed in partnership with Microsoft that allows the agency’s real estate agents to seamlessly and efficiently sell homes and service buyers by merging market listing information, statistics and customer information with the ability to monitor business news and the agency’s newsfeed.

 

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Seven Westchester Firms Among New York’s Largest Privately Held Companies

Crain’s New York Business has just released its list of metro New York’s largest privately held companies, and seven firms making their home in Westchester County are included. Ranked by 2015 revenue, the list includes 149 businesses from the New York area, which includes New York City, as well as Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties in New York, and the New Jersey counties of Bergen, Essex, Hudson, and Union. The Westchester based-companies that made the cut are:

#10 – Central National Gottesman Inc., Purchase, Pulp and paper sales; $5,010.0 (2015 revenue in millions)

#39 – Krasdale Foods Inc., White Plains, Wholesale food distributor, $693.6 (2015 revenue in millions)

#43 – Curry Automotive, Scarsdale, Auto dealerships, $631.2 (2015 revenue in millions)

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#55 – Pure Insurace, White Plains, Property and casualty insurance carrier, $490.5 (2015 revenue in millions)

#88 – Eileen Fisher, Inc., Irvington, Women’s clothing retailer, $300.0 (2015 revenue in millions)

#92 – Broadview Networks, Rye Brook, Cloud services for business, $291.1 (2015 revenue in millions)

#147 – Apple-Metro Inc., Harrison, Applebee’s restaurants, $153.4 (2015 revenue in millions)

 

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Valhalla Biotech Center One Step Closer to Fruition?

Earlier this month, the Westchester County Board of Legislators convened to review reports from consultants about the feasibility of the proposed Westchester BioScience & Technology Center, a nearly 3-million square foot, mixed-use complex that would make its home on the long vacant property known as North 60 in Valhalla. The proposed complex — located on the Grasslands Reservation, adjacent to Westchester Medical Center and New York Medical College — would help further the county’s position as a growing biotech research hub. The county had the property appraised by Hudson Property Advisors; asked to the law firm of Zarin & Steinmetz to review the proposed lease; and retained the Weitzman Group to do an economic analysis. The work of these three firms has shown the following, as reported at the meeting: the property is worth $27.7 million, with the annual rent clocking in at $1.8 million, and the developer (Fareri Associates LP) paying roughly $30 million to $40 million to pay for installation of all utilities; the proposed development is “physically possible, financially feasible and the highest and best use of the land”; but there are challenges, including the need to have the land rezoned by the Town of Mount Pleasant, as well as potential watershed issues. The consultants were also unable to conclude if the developer’s preliminary construction estimates are reasonable.

 

NewYork-Presbyterian/Lawrence Hospital Debuts New Cancer Center

On November 23, top hospital administrators, medical staff, and community and government leaders toured NewYork-Presbyterian/Lawrence Hospital’s newly completed 36,000-square-foot surgical and oncology pavilion. The cancer center is a collaboration between Columbia University Medical Center and NYP Lawrence Hospital, and provides a comprehensive menu of services from prevention to diagnosis to advanced treatments and survivorship. “This center is a major expansion for NYP Lawrence Hospital and allows us to provide all the services our patients need under one roof in their community,” said NYP Lawrence Hospital president Michael J. Fosina. Highlights of the $65 million center include new operating rooms serving all of the inpatient surgical needs of the hospital; radiation oncology, a new program for the hospital, which includes a PET (positron emission tomography)/CT (computerized tomography) Scan and a LINAC (linear accelerator) machine; as well as a satellite laboratory and pharmacy, situated adjacent to the infusion therapy suite, for an efficient flow. Patients now have access to disease-specific management teams focused on areas such as breast, lung, and gynecologic cancer. The physician teams include cancer specialists who are members of the NewYork-Presbyterian Medical Group Westchester and ColumbiaDoctors faculty practices.

 

IBM Sells Somers Property to Unknown Delaware LLC

IBM Corp. recently sold its 723-acre campus to an unknown Delaware limited liabilities company for $31.75 million — a low-ball offer compared to similar sales in Westchester County. Though it is confirmed that the purchaser is not a nonprofit organization — meaning the Town of Somers will continue to collect taxes on the property — it is unclear who will inhabit that space. The town designated the entire campus as an office business zone; any changes to the buildings must be approved by the town. Somers Town Supervisor Rick Morrissey remains hopeful that a single tech company will move into the property, though he predicts that a single tenant for the five-building complex is unlikely.

 

East & Hudson Welcomes Millennials to New Rochelle

East & Hudson, a Fleetwood-based development firm focused on transit-oriented locales for next-gen renters, has two new projects slated for New Rochelle. The Printhouse, a 71-apartment, 64,000 sq ft downtown development scheduled to break ground in Spring 2016, will be built with Millennials in mind: the space is within walking distance of MetroNorth and Amtrak stations, as well as retail, dining, and entertainment. Ten Com — or, 10 Commerce Drive — is a proposed development for the downtown area consisting of 200 apartments with high-end finishes and amenities. The complex will hold a mix of studios, one bedroom, and two bedroom apartments, catering to both singles and professional couples.

 

Photo by Warner Dick

(L. to R.) Katy Flint Coppinger (AFP Westchester Chapter President), Aleida Frederico (TD Bank), Stephen Moroney (TD Bank), Dan Pallotta (Keynote Speaker), Lauren Candela-Katz (AFP National Philanthropy Chair), Adam Kintish (TD Bank)

Dan Pallotta Helps AFP Celebrate National Philanthropy Day

The fifth annual National Philanthropy Day Conference on November 10th featured renowned Ted Talk presenter Dan Pallotta. The conference, hosted by the Westchester chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) gathered fundraising professionals, executive directors, and board members for a day of educational workshops. The event also honored TD Bank with the Corporate Philanthropy Award for their diverse philanthropy programs, as well as the six volunteers who formed the first AFP chapter in Westchester County. “The development community is grateful to them for their vision, hard-work and dedication to promoting professionalism in the field,” said chapter president Katy Coppinger.

 

Buzz Creators, Inc. Gains Major Clients

Valhalla-based boutique marketing and PR firm Buzz Creators, Inc. recently announced the acquisition of several new clients, including Barnes & Noble, New York Medical College, and White Plains Linen, among others. The Buzz Creators team helps its clients to tell their story through personalized, strategic, results-driven programs that create awareness and excitement for their brand and its products or services, according to firm president Christina Costa-Rae. “My goal since day one has been to provide the best client service and creative, strategic communications programs,” she says. “They say time flies when you are having fun, and that’s exactly what’s happened since I started this firm.” The spike in recent growth prompted the firm to move into a larger office space in Valhalla, leaving even more room for growth.

 

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