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Yonkers OK's Plan To Raze, Build Up Cottage Garden

YONKERS, N.Y. – Yonkers is moving forward with a revitalization project aimed at giving the Cottage Gardens public housing complex a makeover.

The Yonkers Industrial Development Agency approved a plan Wednesday that includes demolishing two of the complex’s dilapidated buildings. In addition, a 50-unit affordable housing apartment building and a 77-vehicle parking garage will be constructed on a nearly 1-acre lot nearby, at 188 Warburton St.

The estimated $19 million project, carried out with the help of the Yonkers Municipal Housing Authority, is part of the city’s larger plan to improve the Ashburton-Ravine neighborhood, city officials said in a statement.

“The city is committed to revitalizing this essential part of our city, restoring it as a vibrant place for business as well as the residents who call it home,” Mayor and YIDA Chairman Mike Spano said. “Today was another critical step in that process.”

Wednesday’s approval is the second step of a plan that also involves the transformation of the former School 6 into 120 units of family and senior housing.

The $52.4 million School 6 project will be in construction by early 2013, officials said, and, when completed, residents of the demolished buildings will be eligible to move into the redevelopment.

The YIDA says it plans to take a leasehold interest in the sites and then lease the sites back to a limited partnership run by Community Builders, Inc., a non-profit housing corporation that will oversee the construction of the new apartments. 

“Together these projects replace some of the most deteriorated Cottage Gardens buildings, and also link Cottage Gardens to the surrounding neighborhood,” Spano said.

In addition, YIDA will provide an estimated $48,924 in relief on mortgage taxes, $566,862 in sales tax relief on construction materials and a property tax exemption that will be negotiated. 

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