Over 20 acres in Yonkers will be turned into a movie studio and school to provide students the tools to enter the entertainment industry.
Rising Grounds' Leake & Watts campus has officially sold for $52 million to iPark, a company that invests in redevelopment.
Mayor Mike Spano says the purchase is part of the bigger picture for the city.
"Goes to fulfilling our dream…of having Hollywood on the Hudson. So it brings a lot of revenue, a lot of jobs, construction jobs, permanent jobs, it also puts Yonkers on the map,” he says.
The plan is to convert part of the site into film studios and the other part into a performing arts school.
“We're going to have a high school located on that property. It's going to be a magnet school, for young people if they choose to go to that school, get their good education but they're going to learn that industry,” Spano says.
The school will open the gate for students and supply the tools to jump straight into the industry from their own backyard.
"For the kids that live in our city, in urban centers, they're going to be able to get an opportunity and a great career moving forward,” Spano says.
The purchase also adds onto the 14.4-acre Lionsgate Warburton studio that's near the Yonkers Metro-North station.
Spano says, "We are a city that is open for business, we are a city where you can come and make this type of investment.”
Rising Ground said its programs, which deal with children, adults and families will not be affected by the sale. It is being left with 3 acres of the property.
"We will work with them as best we can because we know that we're dealing with a population that has high needs,” Spano says.
The new addition is excitedly welcomed by everyone involved.