By Peter Katz – January 11, 2021
Chestnut Commercial, owner of the 12-story commercial building at 20 S. Broadway in Yonkers that was built in 1931, reports that long-term lease renewals with three government tenants were signed for the building in 2020 despite the Covid-19 disruption.
20 S. Broadway
The U.S. General Services Administration renewed its lease for just under 12,000 square feet of space occupied by the Social Security Administration. In addition, a full-floor lease for the Westchester County Department of Health was renewed along with a 34,000-square-foot lease for the Westchester County Equal Opportunity Center.
“These transactions reinforce the position of 20 S. Broadway as the premier building for government agencies and not-for-profit organizations in Westchester,” said Daniel Wiener, senior managing director for Chestnut Commercial. Other longtime tenants in the building include Family Services of Westchester, Mental Health Association of Westchester County, Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic, Visiting Nurse Service of New York and Yonkers Community Action Program.
Howard E. Greenberg, president of Howard Properties Ltd. in Valhalla, represented both the tenants and the building owner in the three transactions.
Chestnut Commercial, which was established in 1997, has created a portfolio that includes retail and office spaces in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Yonkers.
Shortly after the Social Security Administration’s lease was renewed Greenberg told the Business Journal, “All government deals are, shall we say, complex. These are competitive bids and it’s certainly not only done by price. It’s done by quality of the building and the specifications of the building. It has to meet the government’s needs”
Greenberg explained that the location of 20 S. Broadway is part of what has made it attractive to government agencies and nonprofits.
“It’s got good bones on it. Not only do you have sweeping views of the Hudson from the front of the building, you’ve got them almost from three sides of the building because of the way it’s situated and the shape of the floor plate. Right behind it you’ve got a municipal parking structure and five blocks away is the Metro-North station and right in front there’s a bus stop, so you’ve got really good access both for public transportation and parking, which is unusual in an urban area.”
