Residents of the Yonkers 27-story high-rise apartment building Seven Pines Tower faced devastating destruction just days after the New Year in 2021 due to fire and smoke damage from a faulty electrical baseboard heater, which left 22 apartments uninhabitable. Rainbow International Restoration of Westchester, general contractors for the multimillion-dollar restoration and reconstruction efforts, are celebrating the completion of the significant undertaking.

The damage at Seven Pines Tower was extensive. Rainbow of Westchester performed a total renovation of 22 apartments, including 19 that were completely gutted, in addition to rebuilding 27 stairwells and hallways. The entire project was completed within the initial estimated timeframe, despite COVID-19 social and industrial restraints and supply chain delays, with zero accidents or injuries.

“The degree of loss has been difficult for the community, but the way everyone stepped in as the Seven Pines residents worked to rebuild their homes, wellbeing and community was tremendous,” said Ron Fanish, Co-Owner of Rainbow International Restoration of Westchester. “We know the road the recovery has not been easy, and our role was to ensure we remained laser-focused on getting everyone back into their homes as safely and quickly as possible.”

“I am happy to see Seven Pines Tower back on its feet and once again home to Yonkers families who want to live, work and play here,” said Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano. “Multiple city departments worked collaboratively with Rainbow International Restoration of Westchester and H&S Property Management to make the opening of the residence a reality. Congratulations to all.”

Water mitigation procedures as well as fire and smoke remediation were used to fix the interior damage, with new structural steel joists installed and fire stopping to protect residents and the structure in the event of a future fire. Rainbow of Westchester utilized LaserClean technology, a high power, environmentally friendly alternative to traditional blast cleaning, to remove the structural soot and smoke residue on the exterior of the building without the need for chemical solvents or projectiles like sand, glass beads or dry ice pellets.

“With an amazing amount of dedication from my management staff, contractors, the Yonkers Building Department, and the Mayor and his staff, we were able to relocate 300 families during demolition and reconstruction,” said Andrew Stillman, Vice President, H&S Property Management. “Everyone worked and cooperated for the benefit of our tenants' welfare, enabling us to restore Seven Pines even better than it was before. We are grateful to our tenants for the cooperation they gave and to all parties involved.”