Mayor Noam Bramsom
Mayor Noam Bramson , always informative, invited all of the local Realtors to City Hall for an update on the city to address the hopes and concerns of the current and prospective residents,
Mr. Luiz Aragon
and it was very well received! Why not!
SO, what is happening? Present were Luiz Aragon (Commissioner of Development) , and John Barnes (the Principal of the Albert Leonard Middle School) in addition to Noam.
Mr. Aragon (who has been so great) commented on how 3 1/2 – 4 years ago, the City had started to pave a new path for a bright future for investment and development in New Rochelle. He had centered on approximately 300 acres of land in the downtown, with the New Rochelle Library and train station being a central point (“the heart beat of the city”) , and his goal – along with the powers that be in New Rochelle, was to build a gateway toward a dynamic New Rochelle, with new buildings, great walkability, a South Street Seaport like venture -all to further our great city. New Rochelle is also the only city in Westchester to have Amtrak train service go to Boston and Washington.
They had allowed themselves a 10 year time frame for this undertaking, and already 50% of the projected plans have been approved. Partnered with RXR, these projects are grounded in reality, creating a zoning code that has been easier to follow than the past with RXR underwriting the environmental review thus shortening the usual time span required to file for new buildings. Some of the projects includes new rental buildings . For example, where the Smoke House is currently located will be 74 Housing Units with municipal parking. Young Companies has several buildings planned all the way from the car wash to Fifth Avenue.
Two Hamilton Avenue by Spiritos Properties is another development where the facade will be restored to its original glory with four additional Timber Construction floors with residential units. Did you know that New Rochelle will be the first community in the region to have an entire timber constructed building?
ELD Properties are building New Ro Studios at 11 Burling Lane offering a preference to artists, and the ground floor will feature a co-working space for the artist residents! Across the street from there at 22 Burling Avenue, ELD is constructing a building with a center courtyard with a tropical garden!
64 Centre Avenue will be the site of a 110 unit building – all rentals with some commercial space on the ground floor. Where the Loew’s Theatre was once located – 587 Main Street will house a 10,000 square foot Black Box (inter changeable) Performance Theatre.
391 Huguenot will replace the U-Haul company currently there with a robotic parking. Adjacent to the former Church/Division Street parking garage, will be the new site of a self-serve hotel with 80 rooms.
Where the Church/Division Street parking garage once was, RXR Realty will be building two 28 story residential towers, and a public pedestrian plaza offering an environmental friendly pocket park.
500 Main Street – where the Covenant Church stood, will, in partnership with the Baptist Church occupy the ground level.
A new dormitory is being planned for Locust Avenue by the St. Katherine’s Group – a private development in partnership with Monroe College.
14 LeCount Place will be the site of two towers – 28 stories tall with 500 units total. This is the undertaking of Wilder Balter Partners, Inc.
Macquesten Development, LLC in partnership with the city has planned a 27 story Residential building at 45 Harrison Street..
45 Harrison will house the new City Hall with the fire station being relocated to a new fire station site (to be built).
The Printhouse is being built by East & Hudson and Megalith, located at 165 Huguenot Street will be a 6 story, high end 71 unit building complete with a rooftop terrace, residence lounge, state of the art fitness center, and ground floor retail! This is expected to be completed in 2018!
The Cappelli oganization is building at 251 North Avenue which will feature both retail and apartments.
Twining Properties has a long term project in the works at Pratt Landing where it will resemble a South Street Seaport with great walkability from downtown. The 100,000 square feet of space will be the site of housing units, town homes, condos and a 200 bed hotel. This is in the marketing phase.
In all, approximately 6370 new housing units have been planned, with approximately 3300 right now approved.. The condos at the old Beckwith Pointe ( Watermark Point) have been a tremendous success with over 30 of the condos currently sold (72 condos in all).
In order to attract all of this development, there has been a PILOT program utilized ( Payment in lieu of Taxes) with the city receiving approximately 120 Million in net benefit over a 20 year period. The question of parking ( always a concern) was brought up, and it was mentioned that developers must offer one parking spot for each unit. However, developers can also pay into a fund which can reduce up to 30% of the parking requirement. The fund will be utilized to build new parking garages.
Mr. John Barnes
Mr. John Barnes , who has been the Principal of the Albert Leonard Middle School for 6 years then spoke about the school system.
He spoke of the wonderful languages the schools offer ( Please see my earlier blog on this subject!), the 80 sports teams – 56 teams being at the High School, 24 teams at Albert Leonard – and of course he mentioned our undefeated soccer team! There is a recycling club, a writers workshop, more than 32 AP classes offered, and of course, every single Ivy League School will be represented by at least one New Rochelle student this fall. See my blog on the Top 33 Student college choices!
Lastly, two representatives from ENERGIZE New Rochelle spoke on how residents can lower their energy costs. “New Rochelle is partnering with a non-profit program, Energize New Rochelle, to encourage home owners to take advantage of a home energy savings program. ” The program pairs home owners with licensed contractors to go through their home to find ways they can save money by making their home green. (914 – 302-7300, ext. 8102) New Rochelle.EnergizeNY.org
New Rochelle – a city – but we all know one another- it just feels like a village! New Rochelle – Ideally Yours!
Thank you Noam, Luiz . Energize New Rochelle and Mr. Barnes for a great presentation!
New Rochelle is GREAT!
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