Walmart Supercenter Scrapped in Cortlandt
Opposition voiced by town officials to a planned Walmart supercenter across from the Cortlandt Town Center apparently led to the owners of the property to sell it recently.
Cortlandt Supervisor Linda Puglisi learned last week that the sale of the 36-acre site between Westrock Development, which had been looking to construct a 160,000-square-foot Walmart with a fully stocked supermarket, and Acadia Realty, which manages the town center, had gone through for an undisclosed price.
Representatives of Walmart met with Puglisi and other town staff about a month ago after the majority of the town board had publicly expressed concerns about the size of the project and the affect a Walmart supercenter would have on traffic on the already congested Route 6 corridor and existing supermarkets in the area.
“I basically just told the Walmart representatives about the obstacles but I said we want you to stay here. They said they are successful and they want to stay here,” Puglisi said. “Obviously it must have had an impact. Acadia said they were considering it (buying the property) and it may or may not happen. I was pleased. I believe it’s a win-win for the community.”
Neither Jason Friedland, managing partner of Westrock, nor Jon Grisham, senior vice president and chief accounting officer for Acadia, returned phone calls, but David Steinmetz, an attorney for Westrock who noted he was not involved in the real estate transaction between the two parties, said it didn’t take long for a deal to be struck after Westrock’s short-term contract with Walmart expired.
“Acadia knows the property very well. They’re standing in Westrock’s shoes,” Steinmetz said. “There’s no question Acadia didn’t buy that property to leave it vacant. I’m confident that something ultimately will be developed on that property to improve the Route 6 corridor and improve commerce. We’re all waiting to see what happens next.”
Since the property is split zoned, with 26.5 acres zoned residential and 9.5 acres zoned commercial, the town board would have had to rezone part of the property for the Walmart supercenter to even be considered, but no official request from Westrock was ever made, according to Puglisi. About 14 acres in the rear of the property buffer approximately 80 existing homes in the Baker Street neighborhood, where residents have been pleading for years for a traffic signal on Route 6.
With Walmart out of the picture, Steinmetz questioned if that signal would ever be installed since Westrock was prepared to share part of the cost with the owners of Pondview Commons, a proposed condominium complex on the former Lakeview Cottages property next to the town center.
“They’re going to have to reexamine that. I don’t know what happens next,” said Steinmetz, who represents Pondview Commons. “It certainly could delay it.”
Puglisi is confident the traffic signal and sewers in the area would not be derailed by the absence of a Walmart supercenter.
“I’m certainly going to push for it,” Puglisi said of the traffic signal. “There are several scenarios for sewers and one of them is going to fit.”
She also expects Acadia to pursue a commercial project of about 95,000 square feet as had been proposed in the past.
“I’m calling it Cortlandt Town Center II,” Puglisi said. “Maybe I’ll get my trolley. I think this will be very beneficial to the Town of Cortlandt.”
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/
