Henckels to Move to P’ville’s Former MLA Site Next Year
J.A. Henckels, the international cutlery firm that bought the former MLA property along Marble Avenue in Pleasantville, is expected to soon start building its headquarters and should move in sometime next year.
Village building inspector Michael Testa said last week that the construction of Henckels’ new structure is expected to get underway in the “next month, month and a half.”
Once all the permits are issued, construction of the roughly 150,000-square-foot building on property once owned by Stop & Shop could be completed in a year. Testa said the construction is going to move “very rapidly.”
“They’re on a very fast time pace because a lot of it’s going to be components, which would be the steel and filled-in infrastructure,” Testa said.
The old MLA building has been taken down and a fence has been put up around the perimeter of the property.
Henckels, a high-end cutlery manufacturer, will continue to operate out of its main offices in Hawthorne until the new building is erected. Company representatives said last year that they have outgrown their current 75,000-square-foot facility.
Testa said between 65 and 100 employees will work in Pleasantville, making Henckels one of the largest employers in the village.
He said there have been “unique” challenges building on the property. Because the original structure was built on piles, any new construction must be done on a series of modified piles and pile caps to hold the weight of the columns.
Testa said he’s received only a few calls from residents about the project, mostly concerning how long the construction will take.
At a village board meeting in mid-February, Mayor Peter Scherer said demolition was nearly complete. Scherer added that the new building on that property was a long time coming after it had been barren for more than a decade.
“I think all of us are excited not only to see the progress but also to welcome Henckels as a linchpin of our commercial base,” Scherer said.
The MLA property, named for Medical Laboratory Associates, has been empty since that company moved out in the late 1990s. In 2001, Stop & Shop purchased the property with hopes of opening a supermarket, but never moved forward after facing stiff public opposition.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/