Biomed Realty presents revised Saw Mill River Road warehouse plan; board weighs next steps

Jennifer Gray, an attorney for Keen and Beam representing Biomed Realty, told the Greenburgh Town Board the company is seeking site‑plan approval to convert the long‑vacant office campus at 410–460 Saw Mill River Road to traditional warehouse use and asked the board to schedule a public hearing on the revised application. "We are here tonight to update you on our application, for site plan approval for the redevelopment of the office campus on Saw Mill River Road to a warehouse use," Gray said.

Gray and JMC consultants said the revised plan reduces the building footprint by about 22%, removes more than 3.5 acres of disturbance and pulls the building back from the Saw Mill frontage to provide more landscaping and a larger setback. The team said Lot 2, a roughly 9‑acre parcel with steep slopes, is no longer part of the disturbance area and has been proposed for conveyance to Westchester Hills Cemetery. "So we are not proposing any disturbance on that lot. That lot is actually proposed to be conveyed to the cemetery," Gray said.

Traffic was a central focus of the discussion. Paul Sisak of JMC and Diego Villareal (JMC, via Zoom) said the original traffic study — prepared for a larger building — estimated about 240 daily vehicle trips and roughly 158 truck trips; they said the revised, smaller building will reduce vehicle trips proportionally and that they will provide an updated traffic analysis before formal approval. "Vehicle trips will reduce, from that original plan proportionally based on the size of the building," Villareal said.

Board members pressed how the town could prevent a future high‑intensity, last‑mile tenant from occupying the site. Staff answered that the board may condition approvals with maximum trip caps and require a return if a future tenant would exceed studied volumes and identified mitigations. Gray said the team has reached out to Hastings, Ardsley and Dobbs Ferry and intends further outreach to residents of the nearby Lofts complex.

The applicant also said the revised plan will include modern stormwater mitigation meeting current DEC and town code standards and a no‑net‑loss tree approach: the team proposed removing 270 regulated trees and planting 270 new trees, using larger plant stock and faster‑growing native species to improve initial screening. Planning‑board referral and whether to move to public hearing were discussed; the applicant said its expectation was to proceed toward a public hearing but acknowledged the town board could choose to re‑refer the revised plan for planning‑board review.