Ahead Of Schedule, Readers Digest Plans Earlier Chappaqua Departure - Update

Readers Digest Association, parent company of the Reader's Digest magazine, will move out of its large Chappaqua headquarters earlier than anticipated.

The company is ahead of schedule in its departure plans, according to Evan Goetz, a spokesman for RDA. He said in an email that they could be out before Labor Day.

The media company began its move on the weekend of June 18 to 21, according to Goetz, who also said it is being done in phases.

RDA had previously been set to to complete the move by mid September, said Goetz.

Plans for the move were first announced last November, when the company announced that it would break its lease with owner Summit/Greenfield - which it sold the building to in 2004 before becoming a tenant - and move its employees to offices in New York City and White Plains. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last August and emerged from it in February.

Out of the 650 employees who were working in Chappaqua at the time of the initial announcement, the company planned for 525 to move to White Plains and 125 to Manhattan, Goetz said.

The decision will not affect Summit/Greenfield because they will be paying rent until the end of the year, according to Dean Bender of Thompson & Bender, a Briarcliff Manor public relations firm that represents them.

Summit/Greenfield is currently working on its future plans for the 100+ acre site, which is now called Chappaqua Crossing. As of now, its development plan is going through a preliminary version of a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), which is under review by the New Castle Town Board. Supervisor Barbara Gerrard, Councilman John Buckey and officials working on the town's behalf have each analyzed the proposal and possible alternatives in the FEIS. Their comments are available here.