One Lawrence Street in Ardsley Cleared for Development

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1 Lawrence Street in unincorporated Ardsley section of Greenburgh (photo from Google Maps)

July 29, 2024

This story is from the Rivertowns Current. To read it in its entirety, go to: https://rivertownscurrent.substack.com/p/greenburgh-brownfield-cleared-for

by Kris DiLorenzo–

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced that through the NYS Brownfield Cleanup Program (BCU), the brownfield site at 1 Lawrence St., in the Ardsley section of unincorporated Greenburgh, has been sufficiently remediated to allow development. Six of the site’s 10.7 acres were brownfield, a result of chemical manufacturing by the Stauffer and then AkzoNobel companies, from the 1930s-2006. (A brownfield is land that is abandoned or underutilized because of contamination from industrial use.)

This May the DEC issued a Certificate of Completion (COC), confirming that Ardsley, LLC is eligible to redevelop the site and receive tax credits toward the costs of cleanup activities and site redevelopment. However, a COC may be modified or revoked if, for example, there is a failure to comply with the terms of the order or agreement with the DEC.

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The 1 Lawrence St. site is bordered on the south by Lawrence Street (at Exit 16 off the Saw Mill River Parkway), and on the east by Saw Mill River Road, across the street from Life The Place to Be – a venue for parties, receptions, and other events.

Stauffer acquired the property in the 1920s; in 1984, chemical manufacturing was replaced by research and development activities. The Dutch company AkzoNobel acquired Stauffer in 1987, continued research and development, then ceased operations in 2006. Between 2008-2009, all buildings on the site were torn down.

Originally, AkzoNobel planned to sell the property to Texas-based developer JPI/TDI Real Estate Holdings. JPI conducted soil sampling and estimated that a cleanup would cost several million dollars — and because it was under contract to buy the property, was admitted into the BCU program in late 2015, aiming to remediate the property to residential standards. The Town of Greenburgh was the lead agency in conducting a full environmental review under SEQRA (the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act).