Largest electric bus company in NY announces plan for major Yorktown facility
(September 7, 2022) – Bird Bus Sales & Service, the largest electric bus company in New York, announced its plans for a major Yorktown facility.
Bird Bus Sales & Service recently closed on the 2.71-acre property at 3805 Crompond Road, the site of a former Taconic Kia dealership. Founded in 2010, Bird Bus sells, services, and supplies parts of Blue Bird Buses. The company supplies the Blue Bird brand to school districts and contractors locally and nationally.
“With the change to electric, by 2027 all new bus purchases will be 100% electric and by 2035 all school buses on the road are going to be 100% electric. Therefore, moving up to Westchester is a great opportunity for us to work with the towns, to work with the local school districts to help convert all buses, said Robert Reichenbach, president of Bird Bus.
Bird Bus expects to open its facility by the end of the year. It will store 48 new vehicles on the site for its sales operations, and all bus storage will be located on a screen, paved surface. The property will also have 18 customer parking spots and 10 employee spaces.
Yorktown Supervisor Matt Slater said that he and the Town Board are focused on securing new uses for empty retail properties.
“Bird Bus’s new location is an obvious use for a site that already serviced and stored vehicles,” said Supervisor Slater. “Bird Bus’s reuse of this dealership will return a long-empty property to productive use.”
Bird Bus currently operates in Elmsford, where its lease is expiring with no option for renewal.
“We’re always looking for people to come here and invest, but more importantly, we would like those people to be true community partners,” Councilman Sergio Esposito said of his conversation with Bird Bus representatives, who offered electric vehicle charging opportunities for Yorktown residents. “They want to be part of the community.”
As part of their effort to keep Bird Bus local, on August 25 Westchester County officials granted the company financial incentives that included sales tax and mortgage-recording tax exemptions, as well as a Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) agreement.
“It’s going to be a pleasure having something finally occupy this building,” said Councilman Tom Diana. “They’re actually going to be able to convert the diesel buses into EV buses—the cost is still in flux—but it’s a positive thing in terms of emissions.”
Councilman Ed Lachterman said that Bird Bus will help diminish skepticism about the practicality of electric vehicles.
“It will be very interesting to be at the forefront of this revolution right here in Yorktown,” said Councilman Lachterman.
Councilwoman Luciana Haughwout linked Bird Bus’s move into Yorktown with the Town’s motto: Progress with Preservation.
“Not only do we maintain the fabric of our community, we’re constantly looking to evolve. We’re evolving not only to meet our community’s needs, but to meet the world’s needs,” said Councilwoman Haughwout.
Bird Bus’s move into Yorktown and the payment of back taxes on the property allow Supervisor Slater to create a Taxpayer Protection Fund with the back taxes collected. The fund will offset reduced Town property taxes that the PILOT incentives granted to Bird Bus.
“While it is important to keep companies in Westchester County, we don’t want our homeowners to shoulder the tax burden of these incentives,” said Supervisor Slater.
The reuse of the car dealership is the latest example of repurposed properties to address changing market demands. The former Toys ‘R Us has been converted into a CubeSmart self-storage and a developer has proposed razing the former Kmart at the Yorktown Green Shopping Center and converting the property into mixed-use residential.
Photo Caption: Bird Bus Sales & Service president Robert Reichenbach, second from right, discusses his company’s move into Yorktown on September 6, 2022.
Contact: Yorktown Supervisor Matt Slater, 914-962-5722 x201 or mslater@yorktownny.org
