ARDSLEY, NY-As New York’s Capital Region emerges as the “Silicon Valley of the East,” biotech activity is also showing strength downstate in the Hudson Valley. On Monday afternoon, elected officials and the real estate community gathered at the 159,000-square-foot Ardsley Park Life Science Campus where the building got a new owner, San Diego-based BioMed Realty Trust, Inc., and a new tenant, Acorda Therapeutics Inc. During the ceremony, Acorda signed a 138,000-square foot 15-year lease deal for laboratory and office space here at 410-412 Saw Mill River Rd.
Under the deal, Acorda is relocating all its employees from its current facility in Hawthorne, NY to the campus. According to a spokesman for BioMed, the life-science REIT purchased the site for $18 million and will invest a total of $36 million in the entire property over the next 12 months. The site--formerly home to OSI Pharmaceuticals before being bought out by Japanese firm Astellas Pharma in mid-2010--will include infrastructure upgrades and renovations, as well as an additional 500,000 square feet for future development.
Many local representatives said the relocation is another sign of the Hudson Valley’s transformation into an epicenter for high-paying, high-skilled biotech jobs. Acorda-who develops therapies and medications for neurological disorders--currently employs 159 people, and plans to add up to 190 new jobs here.
At the ceremony, Westchester County executive Robert P. Astorino said retaining and attracting business to the county is “critical” to the region as a whole. “Government can't create private sector jobs, but it can and must create an environment that's conducive to job creation,” Astorino said at the press conference, joined by officials from the state, BioMed and Acorda. “Having two major biotech firms choose Westchester as the place to grow their business is a vote of confidence in our county and its highly skilled and motivated workforce.”
In addition to the county, Acorda partnered with Empire State Development, the Westchester Industrial Development Agency (IDA) and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) on developing an economic incentive package to create new jobs and maintain existing ones. The company received tax credits of up to $5.2 million under the state’s Excelsior Jobs Program, an employment-creation initiative administered by the ESD. The county’s IDA also offered Acorda $1.1 million in sales tax abatements.
The Ardsley Park campus is located near the 1.1-million-square-foot Landmark at Eastview managed by BioMed and owned by BMR-Landmark at Eastview LLC. While he could not be reached for comment, Accorda’s president and CEO Ron Cohen said that company has “grown substantially over the last several years” and Ardsley Park will help accommodate future needs. “Acorda has been based in Westchester County since 1998, where we are proud to have contributed to building a vibrant biotechnology community in New York,” Cohen said of the deal, in a statement. “We are pleased that New York state, county and local government and economic development groups collaborated with us and BioMed to provide a cost-efficient solution that allows Acorda to remain based in Westchester County.”
Also in attendance at the press conference was Ken Adams, CEO of Empire State Development, Bill Kane, senior director of BioMed Realty Trust, Inc. and Paul Feiner, town supervisor of Greenburgh.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
