White Plains, NY According to DJ Venn, senior vice president of asset management at Onyx Equities, the company has issued an RFP to create one of the first smart office campuses in the nation. WestPark, as it is known, comprises two LEED-Gold, class-A headquarters buildings on 25.6 acres, located at 1111 and 1129 Westchester Ave.
According to Venn, the plan is to transform them and the entire campus to meet the accelerating technological demands of 21st century businesses. “Our vision is for WestPark to serve as a hub of connectivity for a global workforce and be the place where innovation and creativity will thrive,” Venn said. “With heightened interest by companies—and employees—seeking to relocate to the suburbs, our goal is to rival some of the most technically advanced campuses in the world.”
1111 Westchester Ave. features a bright airy interior measuring 234,281 s/f of class A space. 1129 Westchester Ave., has 132,179 s/f of class A space. There is a powerful data center with fiber-optic connectivity, fresh-air ventilation systems, high-speed connectivity, a large cafeteria, fitness center, and plenty of power and back-up generation. The buildings also have 1127 covered and surface parking spaces, and boast modern security and life safety systems.
The Onyx team is thinking even bigger for the future. WestPark’s Smart Campus RFP is written for two phases of development. The first phase calls for the two buildings to be retrofitted with next-level technology, including AI and IoT data retrieval systems to meet 21st century demands in terms of sustainability, energy conservation, health and wellness, security, connectivity and workforce attraction.
The second phase calls for autonomous vehicles to set the stage for re-imagining transportation along the I-287 corridor, connecting New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, which was invigorated in 2017 with the opening of the new governor Mario Cuomo Bridge.
Venn said that with the advent of COVID-19 and major companies rethinking their desire to headquarter in large cities, “WestPark is uniquely positioned to meet the needs of our times.” Venn predicts that the RFP, which is posted at www.westparkny.com, will be of interest to both leading global companies as well as second and third stage companies that are successfully producing innovative technology. “Experience, qualifications, price, product viability, financial stability, and proposed timetable are among the many factors that will enter into the committee’s decision-making,” he said. “Our concept is for an autonomous shuttle and other autonomous vehicles to connect our innovation campus with our immediate neighborhood’s sports, food, and health facilities, and then to the White Plains multimodal, transportation center and Metro-North RR train stations. That’s for starters.”
WestPark Associates will work proactively with New York State and Westchester County to encourage the development of an I-287 “Innovation Corridor” and the use of autonomous transportation in that corridor. “Both our world-class Smart Campus and the concept of developing an autonomous transportation loop along the I-287 corridor all play into the vision we have of moving Westchester County into the forefront of smart business, innovation, and healthy living,” Venn said.
According to William Cuddy, Jr., executive vice president of CBRE, which is marketing the campus, which is currently serving as the temporary headquarters of a major multinational corporation, a re-imagined WestPark will be the catalyst of something much, much larger. “As Westchester County’s biotech, healthcare, financial services, and tech sectors continue to thrive, the chance to develop and position WestPark as the linchpin of an ‘Innovation Corridor’ along I-287–that will attract companies in New York City’s burgeoning tech and financial sectors, as well as others nationally – is very real,” he said. “The effect will be to invigorate and stimulate flexible ways of doing business, retain and expand the region’s young, educated workforce, and encourage more research and development here.”
Imaginative Design and Flow
At present, the two WestPark office buildings epitomize all the aspects of a class A, trophy headquarters. “This is Westchester’s premier office complex, so we’re beginning the process with a leg up,” Cuddy said. The buildings are loaded with amenities, have high-speed fiber connectivity, an environmentally-sensitive design, natural light on every level, excellent air filtration systems, and plenty of green space. “Even so, the owners are not resting on their laurels; they are re-imagining the campus for the 21st century.”
Submissions are due by 5 pm on September 9, 2020 and decisions are expected by the end of the year.
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