Vacant commercial buildings - a sign of the times. Instead of waiting for a proposal to pop at a zoning meeting to find out the use, we thought we'd get proactive and engage our communities around these properties.
When an interesting property surfaces, we'll ask residents what they would like to see there - a coffee shop, movie theater, pizza joint, bank, or something really different?
From there, we'll take the community feedback to the property owner and town officials to see what they think. And we'll welcome recommendations from residents about additional properties to spotlight.
So, for our first week, let's visit:
131 Central Avenue
Our first building in this new feature is the former KeyBank branch that sits in the Y of the roads where Wildey meets Central Ave.
The grand old bank building on Broadway and Main in Tarrytown has already become a Citibank. (We're sorry they snapped it up before we were able to feature it here - I'm sure your ideas would have been better).
The former KeyBank isn't so impressive but it offers its own parking lot (a depository at the moment for old trucks), brick exterior (certainly in need of some sprucing), a carport drive-up window, and a very visible location location location.
What would you like to see open up here? Far-fetched or realistic, we'd love to hear your opinions. Then we'll see where they lead us.
