A development proposal for the 17.89-acre site of the former Stony Lodge Hospital in Ossining is now dramatically different from what originally had been proposed for the site in November 2014.
The Hudson Park Ossining LLC previously had proposed erecting a 188-unit multifamily rental apartment building at 40 Croton Dam Road. The plan was under review from 2014 until May of 2020. In view of feedback from the Ossining Planning Board, Town Board and members of the public, the developer created a new plan calling for the construction of a new residential community to be known as River Knoll. It would feature 95 townhouse condominium units with all units age-restricted as allowed by the Housing for Older Persons Act (HOPA).
HOPA had been signed into law on Dec. 28, 1995, by President Bill Clinton. It amended the Fair Housing Act to allow housing developments to market themselves as being restricted to people age 55 and over provided that at least 80% of the units are occupied by at least one person who is at least 55 years old.
Hudson Park Ossining LLC said not only would the 95 units in River Knoll be age restricted to 55 and up, but 10 of the condos would be priced as affordable housing. The developer also proposes to preserve and enhance 11.8 acres of the site as green space. It says wetlands and wetland buffers will not be disturbed while noting that neighbors would no longer have to look at the abandoned former hospital buildings.
The proposal involves constructing the new townhouses in 19 buildings that would contain from two to six units each. Structures on the property that formerly were used by Stony Lodge Hospital would be demolished. Stony Lodge was a children”™s psychiatric hospital that closed in 2012. The developer says that since the hospital closed, the buildings on the site have only been minimally maintained and their visible deterioration has become a concern for nearby residents and town officials.
The construction period for the project is expected to be approximately 18 to 21 months.
Glen Vetromile, principal managing partner of Hudson Park Group LLC, told the Business Journal that many of the townhouses will have master bedrooms on the first floor, a feature sought after by many older people looking to downsize. He said small elevators can be installed as an option in some of the townhouses.
“People who may be empty nesters and no longer want to maintain a larger single-family home but still want an ample townhouse with a lot of amenities and a two-car garage don”™t necessarily want to move into an apartment,” Vetromile said. “They want a good-sized townhouse with modern amenities. These will have a den and the ability to put in a second office and also the ability to put in a small gym so people can work out at home.
Vetromile said that a lot of the demand for special features in new housing has been driven by Covid, with many older people now preferring to work at home rather than commuting.”
There would be a landscaped entrance off Croton Dam Road, a community building with a fitness center with state-of-the-art exercise equipment, a yoga studio and a club room providing gathering areas. Outdoor amenities adjacent to the community building would include a swimming pool for residents, an outdoor kitchen for private entertaining, a dog walk and a walkway to Veterans Memorial Park. Among the townhouse features are hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances, laundry equipment and security systems.
“People in their late 50s, 60s and 70s want to stay in the community and they don”™t want a house,” Vetromile said. “All the common areas, the outsides, will be maintained by the association and the association will monitor the townhouses if you want to go away.”
Vetromile pointed out that the project would not bring new children into the local school system. According to the project”™s Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement submitted in February, the project would generate an estimated $1,125,002 in tax revenues for the town and school district, an increase of $1,049,374 over what is currently being generated from the property.
Vetromile said that just as the project would not impact the school system, it also would not impact local traffic conditions.
“The peak hours of early morning and before dinnertime will be very different with this project,” Vetromile said. He expressed a hope that in the next couple of months the environmental review can be completed.
“The overarching message is that we have listened. The prior project had a lot of proponents but also people that did not want it,” Vetromile said. He said that some people felt the large apartment building that had been proposed did not fit in with the character of the single-family properties near the site.
“Listening to the neighbors and the town board members and the planning board members the things they were concerned about were school children generation and something that kind of fit into that site,” Vetromile said. “I will have to say that this site has been vacant for quite a long time and similarly the town has lost millions and millions of tax dollars from it not being rethought and repurposed.”
