A proposal from Atria Senior Living to build three additions at its Atria on the Hudson senior living facility off Route 9 in Ossining is headed for a vote by the village Planning Board, possibly as early as its Aug. 27 meeting.
The board continued its review of the proposal at its July 23 meeting, during which there was an indication that it might be in a position to act on site plan approval and an environmental findings resolution as soon as the August meeting.
Atria on the Hudson has 122 housing units for seniors in a 133,501-square-foot building with several wings. It is on 10.3 acres. Plans call for 39 units to be added, bringing the total to 161. Atria on the Hudson offers independent living, assisted living and memory care.
Two 3-story additions are proposed on the west side of the building and a 1-story addition for the east side of the building. The east side addition would be built on the current site of a walled garden. The additions would increase the gross floor area of the building by 35,984 square feet, bringing the total size of the complex to 169,485 square feet. There would be modifications to the existing parking lot, although no new spaces are proposed. A new fire access lane is to be created.
Attorney Adam L. Wekstein of the White Plains-based law firm Hocherman Tortorella & Wekstein LLP represented Atria before the board. He said the applicant has addressed concerns the board previously expressed including noise levels of building equipment affecting nearby residences.
“We have submitted since last time some revised plans. We have retained an acoustical engineer who has looked at the equipment and indicated what new equipment should be installed to actually mitigate the sound problem,” he said.
Nate Perna, associate partner of New York City-based Longman Lindsey, one of the largest independent acoustical consultancy firms in the U.S. serving the construction industry, told the board, “Last week we went out to Atria to conduct some measurements, all around the property line. Right now what we”™re proposing is a new cooling tower. What we did was take the sound data from the manufacturer and we”™re projecting that to the nearest residence. The nearest is about 450 feet away from the proposed cooling tower location and the others are around 600 feet.” He said that with what they”™re planning the existing mechanical noise level will be substantially reduced even with a larger building.
Planning Board Chairman Michael Beldotti noted that over the years flora on the property has matured and also will help suppress noise. “The vegetation”™s grown. You”™ve gotten sort of a filling-in effect, so whatever plantings were done several years ago, that”™s a buffer too,” he said.
Mark Alexander, Atria”™s executive vice president of redevelopment and construction, told the Business Journal from his office in Louisville, “We were trying to make the changes to the site as minimal as possible and also maximize the potential for views out to the Hudson River. Most of the apartments that we”™re proposing to be added are facing out toward the Hudson and away from Route 9.”
Alexander said they”™re hoping to have the additional units up and running by the summer of 2021. “We hope to get this approved in the fall and then we would go to construction in the springtime or early summer, and it would take us 18 months from there.”
Alexander said Atria considers the facility in Ossining and its other Westchester properties to be highly successful.
“We think Westchester is a great community for expansion long term over the next five to 10 years and there are always possibilities to enhance our current communities as well. We”™ve become fairly active redevelopers over the last 10 years with a focus on New York and the Northeast and out west in California.”
The Ossining site is large enough so that even with the new units Atria will be well within the required setbacks and no variances from the Village of Ossining will be needed, Alexander said.
“It”™s a great location. It”™s easy to access from different points in Westchester County. We have made the building a silver LEED building and it has a solar roof on it currently. It has great amenities like a pool and a large fitness space and multiple dining venues, so we have a lot of amenities on site and we have a nice walking path around the community on our 10 acres and we”™ll be able to have that with this addition as well.”
