Sain Building declared surplus, County will soon consider bids for vacant property

On Wednesday County Executive Ed Day, alongside nine members of the County Legislature and Clarkstown Supervisor George Hoehmann, announced a strategy to redevelop the Sain Building located at 18 New Hempstead Road, which has been vacant since 2017, into mixed-use commercial space and workforce housing.

Following the Legislature’s action to declare this property surplus, which Leadership has agreed to do, the County’s Division of Purchasing will issue a Request for Proposals or RFP for the redevelopment of this roughly 3.69-acre site.  The Legislature’s latest decision will allow the county to sell or lease the property to interested parties.

The announcement  marks a win for Executive Day, who has pushed for the development of the vacant property since his first term in office. Day originally  championed an outright sale of the Property to  National Development, a Massachusetts based firm,  in 2018 but was blocked by the County Legislature. Former Chairman of the Legislature Alden Wolfe, released a statement at the time decrying what he called a  “one shot revenue” approach to rasing funds for the county by parting with valuable real estate, though the sale was a popular idea among the community. In 2020 86% of RCT readers  stated that they were in favor of selling the property. 

Rockland County Legislators in attendance on Wednesday included Lon Hofstein, Beth Davidson, Doug Jobson, Will Kennelly, Jesse Malowitz, Aney Paul, Ray Sheridan, Aron Wieder, and Itamar Yeger. Clarkstown Town Supervisor George Hoehmann also attended the announcement.  

Rockland County Legislative Chair Jay Hood Jr. said, “the national housing crisis is happening right here in Rockland and taking steps to address it is important for our residents, our economy and our county’s quality of life. The new housing loan fund and the redevelopment of existing county-owned properties such as the Sain building can assist the overall effort to increase housing opportunities. I look forward to working with my legislative colleagues and the County Executive on these vital initiatives.”

Rockland County Legislator & Chair of Legislature’s Committee on Economic Development and Housing, Jesse Malowitz said, “when the County Executive announced housing as one of his main priorities during his State of the County, I enthusiastically came up to him to offer my full support as chair of the Economic Development & Housing Committee. I couldn’t be happier to see this major step happening to develop this property and turn it into something that benefits the public, local businesses, and all stakeholders involved. I want to once again thank the County Executive and offer my full commitment to work together to make this the best possible project for the public.”