Grasslands Reservation to be Converted to Bioscience Tech Center
In a statement Wednesday, Jan. 7, Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino announced a $1.2 billion proposed private investment for the development of a bioscience and technology complex on the vacant 80-acre Grasslands Reservation site owned by the county in Valhalla adjacent to the Westchester Medical Center and New York Medical College.
To be called the Westchester BioScience & Technology Center, the nearly 3 million-square-foot, mixed-use complex would be developed by Fareri Associates on 20 acres it owns and on an adjacent 60 acres owned by the county, known as the North 60 on the Grasslands Reservation. Fareri would rent the property from the county under a long-term lease.
The lease will go before the Westchester County Board of Legislators for approval. The project is also subject to approvals by the Town of Mount Pleasant.
The proposed development comprises three major, multi-phase components: West Research Village, Central Village and East Research Village. Fully built out, the new center would include 2,252,600 square feet of biotech/research space; 400,000 square feet of medical offices; a 100,000-square-foot hotel with 100 rooms; 114,000 square feet of ground-level retail space, and a 34,000-square-foot Children’s Living Science Center.
The first phase of the project will include 220,000 square feet of biotech/research space, 100,000 square feet of medical space, 80,000 square feet of shopping/ground-level retail space, and a 100,000-square-foot hotel for a total of 500,000 square feet.
respects the environment by employing the latest green technologies and leaving half the property as open space. And it expands the county’s growing leadership in the fields of bio-technology and medical science.”
According to the developer, the plan will incorporate sustainable features, such as green roofs, demonstration gardens, preservation and improvement of on-site wetlands, bio-swales and rain gardens, interpretive trails and preserving and improving forestland on site. Approximately 54 percent of the property—or 43.6 acres—would be preserved as open green space.
The complex will include a Children’s Living Science Center designed to promote the improvement of the health of children in the region through dynamic and interactive educational programming.
Fareri Associates will make an estimated investment of $40 million in the site’s infrastructure, including improvements to the road network, water supply and service, sanitary waste system and storm water management.
Fareri Associates has more than $1.5 billion and over 5 million square feet of real estate completed, owned or under development. The company’s projects in Westchester include 19 Bradhurst Avenue in Valhalla, a 220,000-square-foot medical office building leased to the Westchester Medical Center and 3030 Westchester Avenue in Purchase, an 85,000-square-foot medical leased to WESTMED Medical Group. John Fareri is founder of the Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital at the Westchester Medical Center
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