While construction continues on the Waterstone of Westchester, a 132-unit independent living facility for seniors at 120 and 150 Bloomingdale Road in White Plains, a welcome center where prospective tenants can find out what the community will offer has opened at 15 Maple Ave., a short distance from the construction site.
In March, the White Plains Common Council granted a one-year extension of the site plan approval for the project. The project is on a 6.72-acre site that fronts on Bloomingdale Road and is across from where the Bloomingdale”™s department store is located. The new building will contain approximately 205,600 square feet. An approximately 13,000-square-foot public park was proposed by the developer to be built along the western portion of the site at Hale Avenue.
Waterstone of Westchester is a project from EPOCH Senior Living, headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, and its development partner National Development of Newton Lower Falls, Massachusetts EPOCH reported that when the White Plains facility opens it will be operating 15 senior living communities in the Northeast, including three in Fairfield County. The White Plains project is its first independent senior living community in New York state.
When National Development was seeking approvals to build in 2018, it estimated the project would cost $120.1 million. The project received sales and mortgage tax exemptions from the Westchester County IDA of more than $3.2 million.
The five-story Waterstone building is rising adjacent to a 146,000-square-foot office building, which formerly was headquarters of The Nestlé Co. and currently includes the New York State Department of Labor among its tenants.
The new construction has been taking place on what had been parking lots and tree-covered greenspace, including a steep slope going up to the adjacent neighborhood. A four-story parking garage for 314 vehicles has been built toward the rear of the property between the office building and the site of the Waterstone building. Plans call for 73 parking spaces beneath the Waterstone building. Additional surface parking spaces would be available in proximity to the existing office building.
A 50,000-square-foot retail and restaurant center that would have been called “The Venue” previously had been approved for the site by the city but it was not built.
Joanna Cormac Burt, Chief operating officer of EPOCH Senior Living, said, “We are particularly excited about our location in downtown White Plains, a vibrant city with restaurants, shops and cultural activities all within walking distance, perfect for our new community.”
Amenities for residents will include a movie theater, fitness center, indoor pool, lobby bar, art studio and salon. A partnership arrangement with VNS Westchester (Visiting Nurse Services) was announced that would offer home care services to residents. The Waterstone plans to feature on-site dining along with concierge and chauffeured car services.
There will be 77 one-bedroom and 55 two-bedroom apartments, some with dens. Rates for the all-inclusive apartments are expected to start at $6,900 per month.
EPOCH Senior Living was founded in 1997 by Laurence Gerber who had been president and CEO of the Berkshire Group, a privately held firm with subsidiaries in long-term care, multifamily real estate and mortgage banking industries with more than $10 billion in assets under management.
Previously, he had been a management consultant with Bain & Company and a senior tax accountant with Arthur Andersen & Company.
