master — From page 1
Rochelle train station abutting Interstate 95 and bisected by North Avenue. The second cluster includes a number of city-owned parking lots and other parcels, centering around the public library building. Although the amount of construction will depend on the eventual proposals, a recent transit-oriented development identified the potential for an additional 1.5 million square feet of office and medical space, 2,000 apartments and 500,000 square feet of retail space. City officials are also hoping for construction of a hotel or hotels as part of any agreement. Those numbers include several properties that aren’t tagged in the clusters and the clusters include a number of properties that study does not. The city says it is receptive to changing zoning codes if the chosen plan calls for it. “The City encourages the development teams to use the Zoning Ordinance as a guiding factor, but to be limited by it,” the request (http://www.newrochelleny.com/ DocumentCenter/View/3615) says. Mayor Noam Bramson, a Democrat, said the request was the next logical step after the
developers — From page 1
foot building would rise at 42 W. Broad Street, at the corner of Broad Street and Fleetwood Avenue in the Fleetwood business district, on a commercial site currently occupied by a Metro Fresh Supermarket. The property to be demolished also includes vacant retail space formerly occupied by a Duane Reade drug store. The site of the proposed project, on which Alexander Development Group in Manhattan is partnering with The Bluestone Organization of Queens, is about 700 feet east of the Fleetwood Metro-North Railroad station. It adjoins a deteriorated four-story municipal parking garage that the developers want to acquire from the city to extensively renovate and operate for both public use and apartment tenants. The developers also want to add about 7,350 square feet of retail space along the garage’s Broad Street frontage, in addition to 12,330 square feet of ground-floor retail space in the apartment tower. Mark Alexander, president of Alexander Development Group, said their proposal has been received “in general very positively” among city officials, business owners and residents in Mount Vernon. “Obviously in a complex approvals process of this nature, there’s a certain amount of back and forth,” he said. Alexander said parking and traffic
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June 9, 2014 • WCBJ • HV Biz
City Council digested the findings of three development analyses, including the transit study as well as a Columbia University report. Bramson said the city’s train station is already among the busiest Metro-North stops, with roughly 5,000 weekday commuters and reverse commuters utilizing the lessthan-half-hour trip to and from the heart of Manhattan. New Rochelle train station, which also has an Amtrak stop, will also be connected to Penn Station when the New Haven line extension is completed in 2021. Although there are at least 10 city properties included in the cluster zones, there are also a number of privately owned parcels. Asked if eminent domain could end up a necessity of any cluster development, he said, “The city’s position and within this (request) is that we prefer our property transfers to occur on a consensual basis but that we are willing to consider eminent domain as a last resort,” he said. The mayor said hiring master developers to take on multiple projects rather than several smaller projects represented a change of approach for New Rochelle. Master developers could represent a more unified vision and potentially attract larger and better-suited candidates, he said. The city is also issuing a request for proposals from consultants to
study the impact of large-scale redevelopment on the public schools by analyzing demographic trends and projects, identifying student population thresholds that would require buildouts and suggesting solutions to handle any influx of new students. “It’ll be the first time we look at it comprehensively and it is going to be done by professionals,” Bramson said, noting city officials have already met with representatives from the schools. A hurdle for public support of the master developers’ visions will be the amount of tax abatements the city offers, according to Bob Marrone, executive director of the New Rochelle Chamber of Commerce. In the last two decades, the city undertook several marquee development projects, the first of which was the 1.2-million-squarefoot New Roc City. Residential development was also a focus with the 40-story luxury condominium Trump Tower and the two-tower Avalon Bay. The 30-year tax abatements on the Avalon properties became a controversial debate point and the company has since sold both of its buildings – the 39-story Halstead of New Rochelle is now owned by DSF Group and the 25-story La Rochelle was bought by Hartz Mountain. “I don’t think residents will ever support
another 30-year tax break,” Marrone said, but said previous deals should serve as a lesson to city officials. “There is a middle ground. The more we develop the downtown, the better it is for New Rochelle.” City Councilman Hyden agreed, saying the city was better prepared to determine a cost/benefit ratio for any payments in lieu of taxes. “We have to weigh the overall benefit to the city, hotel tax revenue, sales tax revenue, if people are living downtown,” he said. “I want to make sure going forward we get more than we give. I’m not interested in giving away the store.” Ralph DiBart, the executive director of the New Rochelle Business Improvement District said he favored seeking master developers, as it was a holistic approach to revitalization. He said the timing was right as rents and costs increase for businesses and residents in New York City. “Now is the time for us to plan to be a major player as the real estate market moves north from Manhattan,” he said. The cut off period for qualification bids is July 31. A shortlist of finalists is expected to be notified late in summer and invited to present in front of the City Council in October.
have been predominant concerns heard in Mount Vernon. Kenneth Plummer, the developers’ project consultant at Kensworth Consulting in Mount Vernon, said a large majority of speakers at the Mount Vernon City Council’s recent public hearing on the project favored the proposal. The council earlier this year approved a zoning text amendment to allow high-rise, transit-oriented development in the city’s downtown business zone, Plummer said. Designed by Perkins Eastman Architects, the residential building would include 33 studios renting at $1,350 per month; 118 one-bedroom units renting at from $2,000 to $2,200 monthly; 82 two-bedroom apartments with rents ranging from $2,400 to $3,100; and 16 three-bedroom apartments renting at $3,300 a month. Banta Homes Corp., a Bluestone Organization affiliate in Queens, is the project’s general contractor. For Alexander, the Broad Street project would be his second luxury apartment venture in Mount Vernon’s Fleetwood neighborhood. As a principal in Glenmark Partners L.L.C. in Manhattan, he formed a joint venture with Petro Real Estate Development Corp. in Mamaroneck to acquire a partially completed eight-story condominium building at 550 Locust St. at a bankruptcy auction in 2010. Completed in 2011 and marketed as rental apartments in the post-recession economy, The Horizon at
Fleetwood is fully occupied, he said. “We see a demand throughout southern Westchester for well-sited luxury residential communities,” Alexander said. “The Horizon demonstrated that there is deep demand and we should try to meet the demand.” Alexander said the West Broad Street project has been strongly supported by Fleetwood merchants who expect a boost
in business from an influx of downtown tenants with annual incomes over $100,000. “Something like $30 million of household income is going to be added to the community with this project,” he said. Alexander said the developers hope to complete the municipal approval process and begin construction “within the next 12 months.” Construction is expected to be completed in 18 to 24 months, he said.