The Landmark at Eastview has shelved its three-monthold plan to develop a hotel-conference center on the office-lab campus straddling the Greenburgh-Mount Pleasant border, after agreeing to sell off part of the property to Madison Square Garden for a sports practice venue.

LCOR Inc. of Berwyn, Pa., said it changed its plans for the 275-acre campus due to lack of interest among potential operators - a reflection of the souring economy that has cooled what had been a red-hot hotel market in Westchester.

At the same time, LCOR said it has not ruled out proposing a hotel-conference center some time in the future.

"At this point, no one (operator) has been lined up for it, and we had a buyer ready to do something on the space, so we moved forward," said Francis Marino of The Marino Organization, the New York City public relations firm that represents LCOR. "Madison Square Garden made the decision easier for us."

LCOR discovered what industry observers shave been saying for months - that the current economic chill has all but frozen investmerit in new hotels, especially those tied to corporate conferences.

"When things get a little tight, the first thing corporations cut conferences, and conference centers live off that type of business," said Morris Lasky, chief executive officer of Lodging Unlimited Inc., a hospitality industry consultancy with offices in Chicago, Ill. "How the rest of the nation has been going will go Westchester and the other suburbs of New York City.

Marino said LCOR's decision was not affected by the opening over the past two months of two new hotels within 5 miles of The Landmark at Eastview, since they differ from the conference center envisioned by the developer.

Some 2 miles north of The Landmark at Eastview, an 85unit Comfort Inn & Suites took in its first guests on Dec. 14 in Hawthorne on Route 9A. And on Nov. 27, Extended Stay America Inc. opened a 136-room hotel about 3 miles south of the office-lab campus in Elmsford, on Route 119.

Marino spoke Jan. 11, a day after Madison Square Garden issued a written statement confirming its interest in building a 120,000- to 130,000-square-foot practice center at Landmark at Eastview for its three sports teams - the Knicks, the Rangers and the women's basketball team New York Liberty.

The center would consist of three basketball courts and an ice rink. The center would be closed to the public.

"We hope to break ground this summer and have it opened the summer of 2002," said Barry Watkins, senior vice president of communications for Madison Square Garden. "Westchester has a great fan base for our teams. Many of our players and coaches live in Westchester, so they are very comfortable with remaining in the Westchester area."

Watkins said the Garden would not disclose the cost of the practice venue, or discuss the search process that has brought it to The Landmark at Eastview. Last year, county officials disclosed that they were considering the joint practice venue as a possible new development for the grounds of Westchester County Airport.

And from 1997 to 1999, the Rangers had proposed teaming up with Manhattanville College on a sports building with practice space for the hockey team. That plan survived a court challenge from neighbors of the college, but succumbed to the desire by Garden owner Cablevision Systems Corp. for a single practice facility.

The Manhattanville plan's chief proponent within the Garden had been the Rangers' then-general manager Neil Smith. He was fired last year once it became clear the team would fail to make the playoffs for three consecutive years.

Greenburgh Supervisor Paul J. Feiner hailed news of Madison Square Garden's practice venue and promised that the town would quickly approve plans for it.

If that happens, it would be the first significant expansion of The Landmark at Eastview allowed by Greenburgh since '70s. Feiner has previously said Greenburg would not approve any new development at the campus pending a state decision on a route for a bypass highway paralleling Route 9A from Elmsford to Hawthorne. That proje has been in planning stages since the mid-1980s.

As a result, Feiner said, the town may not be so quick to approve the rest of LCOR's plan to expand The Landmark at Eastview. That plan calls for 320,000 square feet of new office and laboratory space. Plans for the office expansion and practice venue were submitted in one application by LCOR on Jan. 11.

"The practice center will bring prestige to the town, and there's virtually no traffic from it compared to other potential uses. I personally think this is in the interest of the community," Feiner said. "I'm not against additional office or lab space at this point, but I've made it very clear to the applicant that we would approve the practice center before we make a decision on the office-lab space."

Marino said LCOR would not comment on Feiner's threat to split off decisions on portions of the project, other than to say: "This is a single application."

The sports training center will not cause LCOR to reduce the size of its planned extra office-lab space. Marino said LCOR needs the additional space it has proposed in order to effectively respond to inquiries from biotech companies, as well as from Westchester officials who hope to attract those companies by encouraging development of additional space for them.