The Lela Goren Group is working with Yonkers officials, community members, civic leaders and local landmark experts to adaptively reuse and restore Alder Manor and its property in Yonkers.
An elegant century-old property, Alder Manor is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a City of Yonkers landmark. During the past few decades, it has been underutilized and its condition has also deteriorated significantly. The Lela Goren Group, a New York-based development company, will work closely with the State Historic Preservation Office to restore the property and will seek Historic Tax Credits for the associated restoration work.
Since the building’s first days as a college in 1961, Alder Manor has been used successfully as a place of gathering, community engagement, lectures, performances, events, and film and video shoots, and has been active in the last 10 years as an event space. The Lela Goren Group will make a proposal to the City of Yonkers to formalize these uses as a culture and arts establishment.
“We are excited to be working closely with the City of Yonkers and local officials in achieving success at Alder Manor,” said Lela Goren, founder of The Lela Goren Group. “The conversion of large historic properties throughout Westchester County for weddings and formal events has been a successful model that we intend to replicate in Yonkers. Our team of planning and parking experts will present to the City of Yonkers a proposal to formalize this use, along with a parking solution at the site.”
The Lela Goren Group will propose a new zone and associated map change to the City Council this fall. The proposal is intended to facilitate the redevelopment and restoration of Alder Manor in alignment with the Yonkers Comprehensive Plan by focusing on three main goals: stabilization, growth, and the preservation of historic assets. The Lela Goren Group will submit a proposal to rezone an inappropriately zoned area under circumstances where none of the limited permitted uses exist and in its place create a new zone that would allow Alder Manor to be used as a culture and arts establishment.
The proposed uses would create the opportunity for cultural events, community gatherings, catered functions, performances and art exhibits and allow the Alder Manor property to be used as a hotel and event space for weddings, professional meetings and corporate retreats, as well fundraisers and galas. The adaptive reuse and preservation of Alder Manor will convert a formerly private historic asset into a community amenity and generate the revenue necessary to restore and preserve this historic property.
The Lela Goren Group’s approach to every real estate development project is a collaborative one, and the group will host community conversations within Yonkers throughout the development of the property and will solicit important ideas and feedback regarding the project. The Lela Goren Group, wherever possible, will continue to hire qualified local businesses, contractors and residents in Yonkers.
The Lela Goren Group is a woman-owned and operated real estate development company founded by Lela Goren. The company’s mission is to develop properties that contribute economically to communities and that endeavor to bring people together.
Goren said she has assembled a talented and experienced team of professionals to work alongside local leaders. She has been a real estate developer and investor for more than 15 years with experience spanning millions of square feet of real estate involving mixed-use, residential, hospitality, office and retail use properties. Goren is also the developer of the Glenwood Power Plant in Yonkers.
