News in Detail

Former GM Property on Hudson River Gets New Life

At 95 acres, it’s the largest undeveloped tract of land along the Hudson River in proximity to New York City. Now, nearly 20 years after the General Motors assembly plant in Sleepy Hollow, New York, was shuttered, and more than 15 years after the first proposals for the site were put forward, Edge-On-Hudson is set to move ahead with an ambitious development valued at over $1 billion. The riverfront project, a mixed-use development set to include a hotel, restaurants, retail space, and 1,177 units of housing, received unanimous Phase One Site Plan approval from the Village of Sleepy Hollow Planning Board in late October.

Village officials are counting on Edge-On-Hudson to spur economic development in Sleepy Hollow, which lost a major source of tax revenue with the GM closure two decades ago. Edge-On-Hudson is a joint venture of SunCal and Diversified Realty Advisors.

The new development will take place on approximately 67 acres, with an additional 28 acres donated to the Village Of Sleepy Hollow Local Development Corporation. Eventually set to encompass 1,177 units of housing, including condominiums, townhomes and apartments; a 140-room boutique hotel; 135,000 square feet of retail space and 30,000 square feet of office space; the project will also feature 16 acres of parkland, and a winding promenade along the water linking to the existing RiverWalk to the south and Kingsland Point Park to the north.

Phase One features 306 units of housing, including 40 senior affordable units and 21 affordable workforce units. The breakdown includes 188 loft-style apartments in the four-story “Loft District” section at the eastern edge of the property with design elements referencing the Hudson Valley’s industrial heritage; 46 three- and four-story condominium homes and 72 Town Houses in the “Central Park District,” as well as neighborhood green space, a central park, and a new roundabout and village green at the base of Beekman Avenue adjacent to the existing Ichabod’s Landing community. The project is expected to be certified to LEED Neighborhood Development standards.

Edge-On-Hudson is a transit-oriented urban waterfront destination. The site is within walking distance of two nearby Metro-North railroad stations with direct access to Grand Central Terminal. Public space will be an overarching organizational element, as green spaces and recreational amenities in a broad range of landscape settings play a central role. These include a village green with pedestrian amenities, pocket parks, plazas, patios and natural areas with walking trails. Various informal parks and open spaces will be linked within the community through landscaped streets, sidewalks and trails encouraging pedestrian activities.

Initial site preparation at Edge-On-Hudson will commence with construction of a temporary bridge near the western end of Beekman Avenue in Sleepy Hollow over the Metro-North tracks, designed to accommodate trucks entering the property. Construction of the temporary bridge is expected to start within several months, with on-site preparation continuing in 2016. Construction of the first homes is expected in 2017.