SLEEPY HOLLOW, NY—General Motors has sold its 96-acre former minivan assembly plant property here for approximately $39.5 million. The deal puts the long-delayed redevelopment of the property that will include nearly 1,200 residences at full build-out finally on the front burner.

The deal involving the sale of the site by General Motors to the joint venture Lighthouse Landing Venture LLC consisting of SunCal of Irvine, CA and Diversified Realty Advisors, LLC of Summit, NJ closed on Dec. 23. While parties to the transaction refused to disclose financial details of the transaction, Sleepy Hollow Mayor Ken Wray told Globest.com in a telephone interview that the parcel traded for approximately $39.5 million. The village will use the sale price to determine the assessed value of the property and subsequently the taxes that will be paid on the parcel to the village. For many years the automaker's tax burden was based on a Payment in Lieu of Taxes arrangement. As part of the sale, the new ownership donated 28 acres on the eastern portion of the property for open space and municipal and public use, including 16 acres on the waterfront.

Wray estimates it will take about a year to 18 months for the developers to secure site plan approval and to begin construction on the first phase of the project. General Motors shut down the minivan assembly plan in 1996 and since then the village and the automaker have attempted to secure approvals for a massive redevelopment of the parcel. Since that time environmental remediation of the property has been completed. However, lawsuits, the recession and other factors have contributed to the lengthy delay. In December 2013, General Motors, SunCal and Diversified Realty Advisors signed a contract for the parcel. A year later the deal closed.