The parking lots on the south side of the Metro-North train station in Harrison are set to be converted into a new town center that will include rental apartments, retail space and two pedestrian plazas.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board voted Wednesday to enter a joint development agreement with the town and developer AvalonBay Communities Inc. The MTA will sell the property for an undisclosed amount to Avalon Bay, which proposes to build a series of mixed-use buildings and a parking garage on the 3.3-acre parcel at the corner of Halstead and Harrison avenues, in the heart of Harrison”™s downtown.
In total, the project will have 143 upper-level apartments and 27,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space in four-story buildings. Harrison Supervisor/Mayor Ron Belmont, a Republican, said the improvements would bring foot traffic and improve the business climate in Harrison”™s downtown.
“I look forward to seeing Harrison become an even better place to live,” he said.
In exchange for the land sale, the developer at its own expense will build a 569-space parking garage with at least 475 of the spaces for Metro-North commuters. It also will build an additional 100 spaces on a nearby lot ”“ in total a 218-space increase over the 257 spaces in the four deteriorating parking lots at the site today. Metro-North Railroad president Joseph Giulietti called the project “transformative” in a statement, saying it will be the first fully realized transit-oriented development project in the Metro-North system.
“Commuters will have an easier time finding parking and downtown Harrison will be enlivened with stores and a 24-hour community of residents,” Giulietti said. “We hope this type of suburban transit-oriented development becomes a model for communities throughout the MTA region.”
The announcement of the project this month came decades after the project was first hatched and nearly three years after a bid process for the work closed. Based in Arlington, Va., AvalonBay was chosen from two companies that bid for the work in 2011. The other bidder, Conifer Realty L.L.C., a Rochester-based real estate development and management company, forwarded a proposal contingent on access to public subsidies, which the MTA could not guarantee.
After the bidding closed in October 2011, AvalonBay was chosen as the preferred developer by the MTA, which entered into an exclusivity agreement with the developer in December 2012, according to MTA documents.
The town said in 2011 it had only received two bids to develop the parcel, but due to a confidentiality agreement there was never any public discussion by town officials of the terms of those bids or confirmation as to who the bidders were. AvalonBay was told by the MTA to develop a project plan to be officially voted on by the MTA board and Harrison town government.
In a statement announcing the plans, AvalonBay development director Grant Jaber said the project was an example of a successful public/private partnership. He also gave it a name.
“Avalon Harrison will certainly be a showcase community in our national portfolio,” he said.
An active developer of multifamily residences in Westchester, AvalonBay has developed luxury apartment projects in Bronxville, Elmsford, Mamaroneck, New Rochelle, Ossining and White Plains. It operates a regional suburban office in Fairfield, Conn.
The town center project has been a talking point in Harrison since the 1980s, with the hope that a development there would spark a revitalization of the downtown area, which has seen some empty storefronts and light foot traffic in recent years. An agreement to develop the parcel got legs in the last decade, with public presentations by Metro-North and a local consultant in 2008.
Terms of the agreement still must be finalized, including an arrangement for off-site parking during construction and details about the operation and maintenance of the parking garage. The town will also conduct a public review including environmental studies under the state environmental quality review act.
The Harrison station is on the Metro-North New Haven line.
