Yonkers IDA Approves Residence Inn by Marriott

YONKERS-The Yonkers Industrial Development Agency has given preliminary approval to a plan by Overland Park, KS-based hotelier True North Hotel Group to build a Residence Inn by Marriott Hotel at 7 Executive Blvd. here. Construction on the project is expected to begin before year’s end with completion scheduled for late 2006.

The project will be the first extended-stay hotel to be built in the city in recent memory, IDA officials note. “The economic engine of Yonkers is now running in high gear,” says Mayor Philip A. Amicone, who is chairman of the Yonkers IDA.

The new hotel, designed by Group One Inc. of Boston, will be a six-story tower with 114 guest rooms comprising 70 studio units, 28 one-bedroom units, nine two-bedrooms and seven handicap-accessible units. The facility, to be built on vacant privately owned land east of Route 9, will feature an indoor pool and spa on the ground floor, a fitness center and a meeting room.

If the deal is finalized, the Yonkers IDA will provide incentives to the developer in the form of a partial real property tax abatement through a Pilot agreement, an exemption from sales and use tax for purchases related to the project and a mortgage recording tax exemption.

The hotel development is expected to create 200 construction jobs and 40 permanent jobs upon completion, IDA officials say. True North manages 13 properties in seven states with a total of more than 1,500 rooms. The properties post gross annual sales in excess of $29 million. The hotel will be among the first in the nation to be constructed according to Marriott’s new “Gen VII” specifications, expected to be officially rolled out by Marriott later this year, IDA officials report.