Brain Drain (at JPI)

When The Jefferson project was first proposed by  mega luxury rental developer JPI earlier in 2015, the following appeared in The Examiner News, an online and print newspaper (often found near the entrance of forlorn coffee shops) concerning The Jefferson:

Potential Greenburgh Developer Gets Proactive in Defense of Housing Project

New York State and especially Westchester County have been identified nationally as an attractive location for technology companies looking to relocate or even develop from the bottom up. With NYS tax incentives for tech companies very attractive, a big step in corporate relocation is the ability to house its employees – and that seems to be a market opportunity for developers in the lower Hudson Valley where urban sprawl has identified a lifestyle that might be on the wane, and a new generation of tech savvy employees called the Millennials (someone reaching adulthood around the year 2000) has gained everyone’s attention.

For the partners at JPI, developers of the proposed 272-unit high quality development project Jefferson at Saw Mill River, luxury rental apartments in studio, one and two bedroom configurations, with amenities on site and close by, including walking and 

biking trails, are the answer to the “suburban brain drain” – the mass exodus of desirable employees out of the lower Hudson Valley. 

The proposed development has been considered bike oriented because of its proximity to the South County Trailway.

Meeting opposition from residents of the Town of Greenburgh to the development at the long-dormant and contaminated site of the former Akzo Nobel chemical plant, at One Lawrence Street, Greg Belew, JPI Managing Regional partner and Stephen Hutto, VP of Development have decided to reach out aggressively and explain why their particular proposal is good for Westchester and Greenburgh.

“We have not had any formal meetings yet,” Hutto explained, “but we have had push back from Greenburgh and Ardsley, mostly with regard to traffic concerns. It’s a knee jerk reaction without any real basis.”

So our traffic concerns are a knee jerk reaction without any real basis.

Ok, what about that bike oriented development?  Apparently no one told Mr. Hutto that the South County Trail ends in Elmsford and outside of one restaurant in Yonkers, there are no other amenities on the SCT let alone knowledge industry sector employers. So none of those millennial tech savvy Jeffersonistas will be biking to work or shopping along the SCT (which of course is seasonal). Oh and there is only one trail. Well developers are known to engage in  some puffery.

But do not except to see Mr. Hutto at the upcoming January 13, 2016 scoping session before the Greenburgh Town Board because he has moved on to work at Gemdale, a large Chinese real estate developer. So does this constitute a brain drain at JPI?