Group calls for fairness in Starwood Capital Port Chester development

The $300 million mixed-use development proposed by Starwood Capital Group of Greenwich on the former site of United Hospital is expected to give Port Chester”™s economy a boost, and Joan Grangenois-Thomas wants to make sure village residents get their share.

Grangenois-Thomas is a member of Sustainable Port Chester Alliance, a coalition of residents and civic, community and labor organizations created in response to the plans submitted to the village board.

The 20-member organization that includes leaders from Human Development Services of Westchester, Communication Workers of America Local 1103, Port Chester/Rye NAACP and Building and Construction Trades Council of Westchester and Putnam counties, is seeking a Community Benefits Agreement that would ensure the village gets a fair shot at project-related construction jobs, housing and funding for its schools.

The alliance is seeking guarantees from Starwood that subcontractors would hire locally, that village schools not be shortchanged via tax abatements and traffic concerns be addressed. The Community Benefits Agreement would need to be signed by both sides.

Grangenois-Thomas, a Port Chester resident for more than 25 years and member of the Port Chester/Rye NAACP, said Sustainable Port Chester is not an opposition group, rather saying its members “advocate for responsible development at the United Hospital site.”

“We don’t want to see the project go down in any shape or form, but we also don’t want to see Port Chester shortchanged,” as through payment in lieu of tax agreements. Starwood’s proposal seeks a $34 million PILOT payment over 20 years for Port Chester public schools. The project is expected to create 2,800 jobs and bring in roughly $2 million to the village school district annually.

Starwood’s project calls for a 135-room hotel, 217,000 square feet of medical office space, 90,000 square feet of boutique shops and restaurants, 500 residential units for young professionals, 230 55-and-over age-restricted housing units and nearly an acre of public open space on the 15-acre former site of United Hospital at 406 Boston Post Road, which closed in 2005. Starwood Capital Group purchased the property for $28 million in 2006.

Another provision Grangeonis-Thomas wants to see included in the Community Benefits Agreement is the guarantee that the 134 units of affordable workforce housing at 999 High St. would be replaced, if not increased. The rental building that houses former hospital workers is at risk of demolition should the project be approved, and the group is calling for 20 percent of new housing to be affordable units. Construction is anticipated to begin in 2018.

Phyllis Maguire, representing Port Chester-based Human Development Services of Westchester, expressed concern over the possible relocation of current tenants.

“Port Chester is a working class community and we want assurances that Starwood is going to replace those units for workforce housing,” Maguire said.

The organization delivered more than 500 postcards in both English and Spanish signed by village residents to the Board of Trustees before its executive session meeting on Jan. 19, where a certain aspect of the project was discussed. The board serves as the lead agency for the project. Grangenois-Thomas said the board has been “noncommittal” in terms of showing support for her organization’s efforts.

A “protest” this month as the group called it, followed Starwood’s recently commissioned telephone study by Fort Lauderdale, Fla. research firm Fabrizio, Lee & Associates, which found that 64 percent of Port Chester residents support the project. The study, which contacted 200 Port Chester residents, found that 27 percent were against the project, and another 69 believed its construction would help the village compete with neighboring municipalities.

Grangenois-Thomas expressed doubt over the objectivity of the phone study.

“Buyer beware,” she said. “They did their phone calls but we have our own people who live here and are doing their own grassroots efforts and talking directly to folks.”

“Obviously I’m a bit biased and wary that it’s called a study,” she added.

The group’s petition, posted on its website, includes messages of support, concerns and suggestions from Port Chester residents as well as those from neighboring communities.

“Please consider the most vulnerable as you make your decisions,” one former Port Chester resident now living in Greenwich wrote.

Carlton Kissner agreed that the current need is for affordable housing.

“High-end housing is nice, but it’s not what Port Chester needs most, right now,” Kissner wrote.

Fellow village resident Helen Martinez expressed no qualms with Starwood’s plans.

“I strongly believe in this project,” she wrote.

Grangenois-Thomas said Sustainable Port Chester Alliance will continue to push for a Community Benefits Agreement as the project makes its way through the approval process, which could take several years.

It is currently in the FEIS and zoning approval process, which Jesica Youngblood, village assistant director of planning and development, anticipated will be completed this year. The project will then move to the site plan process.

“It’s still just the beginning,” she said. “Many more residents when they understand what’s at stake here will become involved.”