Westchester in brief

Sales begin at historic condo lofts

A condominium building in New Rochelle converted from a 19th-century industrial landmark hopes to lure homebuyers despite the slowdown in the housing market. With a slot on the National Register of Historic Places, Knickerbocker Lofts at 52 Webster Avenue will include 45 units ranging from 1,000 to 1,200 square feet, with prices from $370,000 to $705,000. Twenty units are being leased.

Foreclosures increase in Westchester

The number of foreclosures occurring in Westchester County is up sharply, the Journal News reported last month. For the year ending in August, the number of foreclosure filings initiated by creditors in Westchester rose 39 percent to 1,414 compared to the prior year. Actual judgments of foreclosure, whereby the court authorizes lenders to take back the property that served as collateral for the mortgage, were up 61 percent to 424.

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Westchester responds to bank openings

Communities throughout Westchester County are taking action against the wave of new banks that have been opening recently, claiming they already have enough and lamenting the inability of smaller businesses to compete with rising rents. Other municipalities are following the lead of Bronxville, which set a restriction in 2004 on new banks, financial institutions and real estate offices opening in ground-floor spaces downtown, the New York Times reported. Eight of the nine banks in downtown Rye are located within two short blocks of one another, and Larchmont has eight banks in its one square mile, including two Chase banks across the street from each other. Chase doubled its locations in Westchester last year to 106 branches after acquiring Bank of New York.

County to hire at slow pace

A national survey reported that Westchester’s employment outlook could be one of the weakest in the U.S., as employers plan to hire at a slow pace in the fourth quarter, which could negatively impact the area’s office market. The Manpower Inc. employment survey showed that 17 percent of Westchester companies anticipate hiring more workers, 17 percent plan to reduce their workforce, 56 percent expect to maintain their current pace, and 10 percent were unsure. The national outlook shows that 27 percent of companies surveyed expect to hire more employees and 9 percent plan to reduce staff, the Journal News reported.

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