Re: (rshsdepot) Metro-North Makes Silk Purses Out of Old Depots

["Paul S. Luchter" <luckyshow_@_mindspring.com>]

If they can reuse substations, why not Towers??
- -----Original Message-----
From: Bernie Wagenblast <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>
To: Rail Depot List <rshsdepot_@_lists.railfan.net>
Date: Wednesday, April 17, 2002 6:11 AM
Subject: (rshsdepot) Metro-North Makes Silk Purses Out of Old Depots




Metro-North Makes Silk Purses Out of Old Depots

By SANA SIWOLOP
New York Times

The roar of passing trains just a few feet away may not be everyone's idea
of retail heaven, but so far there have been few complaints at the Flying
Pig Farm Market Cafe, which calls the Metro-North station in Mount Kisco,
N.Y., home.

When the 800-square-foot cafe opened in August 2000, it was part of an
effort by Metro-North to find commercial tenants who would be willing to
make substantial capital investments in some stations in exchange for a
relatively reasonable rent, an effort that the railroad is now expanding.
And at the Flying Pig, the arrangement seems to have worked out nicely.

Before the cafe in Mount Kisco could begin operating effectively, its owners
had to shore up and renovate a 100-year-old building as well as erect large
iron-and-glass doors that would separate it from the rest of the station's
waiting room. Still, Deberah Sutter, a general manager and chef at the cafe,
says the Flying Pig would consider branching out to another station among
the 119 in the Metro-North network.

"Being here has given us incredible visibility," she said last week over the
din of clattering dishes.

The Metro-North rental program began in 1993, and by 2000 tenants had been
found for 6 of the 30 stations that it still owns (many stations are owned
by the towns and cities they serve), including the one in Mount Kisco.

Recently the railroad began looking for tenants for six other stations, in
Brewster, Hastings-on-Hudson, Pelham, Port Chester, Tarrytown and Tuckahoe.

Marjorie Anders, a Metro-North spokeswoman, says that two retail tenants are
close to signing leases, for a restaurant at the station in Hastings and for
a bagel shop at Brewster.

She also said that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Metro-North's
parent agency, was close to signing up buyers for two large former
electrical substations that became obsolete when the M.T.A. upgraded its
electrical systems a decade ago.

Though many of the substations were subsequently demolished, the substation
in North White Plains may soon be turned into a storage center, while the
old Astor Street substation in Irvington is tentatively scheduled to be
converted into 19 luxury apartments by Trinity Development Associates, a
developer based in Yonkers.

If Metro-North has its way, some of its other buildings may soon have
tenants, too. Ms. Anders said that the M.T.A. hoped to begin looking soon
for either buyers or tenants for two substantial brick substations that it
owns in Tuckahoe and at its Fordham stop in the Bronx.

The agency also expects to hire a consultant soon to develop a master plan
for reuse of the 9,560-square-foot three-story station it owns in
Poughkeepsie and to lease out space eventually at the Yonkers station, which
is in the midst of a $3.5 million makeover.

Leasing out station space to tenants like the Flying Pig, Ms. Anders said,
is a way to generate rental income, help stations undergo sizable
renovations and offer railroad customers more amenities, like longer hours
in waiting rooms.

Though some Metro-North waiting rooms are open until 9 p.m. she said,
smaller stations now close at 1:30 in the afternoon.

The six stations that Metro-North is hoping to lease vary considerably in
size, from 1,600 square feet in Tuckahoe to 5,632 square feet in Port
Chester.

Ms. Anders says that Metro-North charges rents of $5,000 to $35,000
annually, depending on the size of the station and the amount that
prospective tenants are willing to make in capital improvements, a figure
that varies enormously. According to Metro-North, the station in Tuckahoe,
for example, needs only about $150,000 in improvements, while the station at
Tarrytown, which was built in 1890, requires about $600,000 in work.

Ms. Anders said the Starbucks store that moved into the Hartsdale
Metro-North station in September 2000 spent about $400,000 on renovations.

Ms. Sutter said that her cafe at the Mount Kisco station had to step up its
marketing efforts to snag more commuters who were passing though the station
during afternoon and evening hours.

"We thought it would be more like Grand Central Terminal, where business is
more evenly spread out during the day," she said. "But we discovered that
commuters here are pretty much in a routine, so we really had to push to get
their attention," with efforts like wine and cheese samplings.

The cafe is open until 6 most nights but stays open for dinner until 9 on
Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

That means the station's waiting room is also open far longer than it used
to be.

=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org


=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

------------------------------