Legend
Hospital — From page 1
office space with an emphasis on medical use, 500 housing rentals for young professionals, 230 55-and-over age-restricted housing units and almost an acre of public open space. The latest renderings include plans to create a new street that bisects Boston Post Road and a shared parking structure. Starwood Capital first presented a DEIS to the Port Chester officials in spring 2014. The latest document contains comments from town officials. Port Chester Mayor Dennis G. Pilla called the proposed development a “win-win” for both residents and the site developer because of the economic benefit it could bring to the village. The campus’s only occupants are the families that live at the former United Hospital staff residence, a property that would need to be demolished in order for construction to begin. “I think it’s a very important project not just for Port Chester, but for the region,” Pilla said, citing the lack of 15-acre properties zoned both for commercial and residential development within a small radius of New York City. “I like what they (Starwood) have done with
Yonkers— From page 1
Alexander Street that is needed to support waterfront redevelopment. The MTA site adjoins 1 Point St., the former wire manufacturing site of British International Cable Corp. Cleared of environmental contaminants, the vacant property was acquired five years ago by investors headed by Ron Shemesh, owner and CEO of Excelsior Packaging Group at 159 Alexander St., directly across from the MTA depot. Shemesh closed the packaging plant early last year after it sustained heavy flood damage from Hurricane Sandy. As part of the city’s master plan for Alexander Street, the 1 Point St. and Excelsior sites, comprising about 22 acres, in 2011 were approved by the Yonkers Planning Board for 1,395 residential units and 85,000 square feet of commercial space in a four-phase redevelopment project. Kimball told City Council members that new setback requirements for buildings on the riverfront and stronger flood resilience measures introduced in the aftermath of Sandy require a new Alexander Street roadway to be routed across a portion of the MTA property.
6
MAY 11, 2015
WCBJ | HV Biz
the rendering and how it integrates into our downtown.” The development would create tempoP rary construction jobs, direct jobs from the retail stores and corporate offices, and indirect jobs by virtue of the 730 apartments. The next step is for village planners to review the DEIS comments and advise whether it is complete. Pilla said he hoped that the DEIS phase could be completed this summer, at which point a public hearing could be scheduled. Upon completion, a site plan can be drafted by Starwood and submitted for project approval. Pilla could not provide an estimate for the project completion date should all preliminary processes go smoothly, but said he was told it would have to be completed all at once rather than in phases. The possibility of demolishing the main hospital building would also add on to the project cost and length. Representatives from Starwood Capital declined comment. “Time is the enemy,” Pilla said. “I would but love to see a quality project built quickly but I know there’s a significant effort to demolish the hospital, and obviously that will take time.” Pilla said increased traffic is a considerable concern for both Port Chester and NTS
Spano told New York’s mayor that his administration made numerous attempts to help the MTA find an alternative site for the bus depot. New York City in 2005 paid $10.5 million to acquire the property from Liberty Lines Express. But the MTA would only agree to a $25-million relocation of the bus depot operation to be paid for by Yonkers, Spano said. That proposal did not include a purchase cost for the existing depot site, he noted. Spano called the bus depot “an impenetrable barrier” to the city’s waterfront. “The shores of the Hudson River should be a place where our residents and visitors can gather to live, work and play,” he wrote. “These precious lands should not be sleeping quarters for buses. Nor should the relocation of one municipal organization’s buses come at such a steep price to a financially strapped city which is attempting to grow its tax base while returning its waterfront to the people.” By a 4-3 vote, the Yonkers City Council in late April approved a resolution calling on Spano to acquire through eminent domain the portion of the MTA property needed to complete the Alexander Street extension. The board’s Republican majority, which supported the action, stressed that the property taking would not prevent the MTA from con-
A
Parking
Hotel Office
Abendroth Park
B
Residential Retail
Connection to Abendroth Park P2 P1
P3
C
D P4
E P5
Hig
hS
t
ost nP
ad
Ro
sto
Bo
Images presented herein are intended to illustrate intent and character, not specific design.
Starwood’s proposed uses for the former United Hospital site.
neighboring Rye, as an area that already sees heavy volume throughout the day. Boston Post Road, originally built during the colonial period, is narrower than most other two-lane roads. He said a proposal to widen the main thoroughfare and make traffic adjustments on some of its tributary streets could be a key component of making the site feasible. The other obvious factors to consider, Pilla said, are the potential impact on area schools and residents.
Conceptual Development Plan United Hospital Redevelopment Port Chester, NY
Starwood Capital acquired the United Hospital property at 406 Boston Post Road in 2006 for $28 million after the hospital declared bankruptcy and closed in 2005. Port Chester’s Board of Trustees in March 2014 voted unanimously to adopt zoning changes that would make the mixed-use development possible. “We want to look at its impact, the economic benefits and basically how it fits into the aesthetics of Port Chester,” Pilla said. “We have to do our homework.”
The MTA bus depot on Alexander street, with redevelopment sites shown in the distance.
tinuing to operate the depot. “I find it a little galling,” Yonkers City Council President Liam J. McLaughlin said at the earlier committee meeting to consider the eminent domain option, “that New York City, which has done so much to beautify its own riverfront, isn’t a little more cooperative or understanding of our decision to do the same thing. There’s a huge swath of land to be developed and this is standing right in the way.” Democrats voting against the action said the council did not have enough information
on the amount of land to be taken and development plans for Alexander Street. “I think this is a bit premature,” said Councilman Christopher A. Johnson, whose district includes the Alexander Street area. He added that he thought eminent domain “will be a necessity at some point, but not yet.” Spano told de Blasio he hopes the taking of city property by another city will not be needed. “It is my hope that, governmentto-government, we can work through this situation amicably, and without resorting to litigation,” he wrote.