A Little Piece of History for Sale

Someone with big pockets will soon own a prominent piece of Tarrytown real estate and history.

The Weschester County Savings Bank building at 2 South Broadway is for sale, and will likely be bought before the end of the year.

"We've got a lot of offers and were going back and forth with a lot of folks," said Al Mirin, the senior vice president of investment properties at CB Richard Ellis

This building is historic, in that it housed one of the oldest financial institutions in the county.

The Westchester County Savings Bank was first organized in 1853, according to the book History of the Tarrytowns and the Tarrytown Centennial Album. The bank, Westchester's and Tarrytown's oldest until it merged with another bank in 1971, was first started up in a hat store on Main Street. The operation moved to the corner of Main Street and Neperan Road and occupied a frame house in 1864.

The frame house was then demolished and replaced with a Spanish Renaissance style yellow brick building in 1898. This building closely resembled its current look, which was achieved after an expansion and modernization in 1933.

While Westchester Count Savings Bank has since vacated the spot, other banks have taken its place, the most recent being Wachovia.

The asking price for the building is currently at $3.2 million.

Don't think the prospect of dropping over $3 million has soured any interest in the property, Mirin said there have been many serious inquiries and about a dozen offers.

"We've had a ton of interest. We've had over 35 people look at the property," he said.

The building has two floors and a basement. The first floor has your typical bank look, with 4,027 square feet of space. The 4,2027-square-foot basement contains a vault.

Upstairs, where the bank's original owner had built a luxury apartment, has been converted into an office space.

Mirin said that interested parties have envisioned using the space for a variety of purposes, from the obvious, a bank, to retail and office space. Finding the right business for such a high-profile location is also being considered.

"We're working with the Chamber of Commerce to identify the right use for the property that fits within the village," Mirin said. 

At a recent Chamber of Commerce meeting, Co-President JoAnne Murray also noted that the .67-acre property has some valuable public parking spots. Of the 35 spots in the lot, 18 are leased to the village each month.The chamber is hoping any new owner would honor that current arrangement.

Mirin said a decision on who to sell the building to would likely come sometime in October.