The White Plains Zoning Board of Appeals has granted the variance that was sought by Berkeley 99 Church Street LLC in connection with conceptual plans to convert 99 Church St. and 6 Cottage Place in White Plains into apartment buildings. The building at 99 Church St. had housed Berkeley College, which in 2021 moved out in a consolidation of its White Plains and Manhattan campuses. The building at 6 Cottage Place had served as a dormitory. The two buildings are on approximately an acre of land.
Conceptual plans for residential development were prepared by the architectural firm Warshauer Mellusi Warshauer based in Elmsford and named the owner of the project as WBF Development Inc., Wilder Balter Partners, which is headquartered in Chappaqua.
The conceptual plan includes adding a sixth floor to the building at 99 Church St., which presently has five floors with four levels visible from Church Street. The building at 6 Cottage Place already has six stories. The property is in the CB-3 zone and is legally existing but nonconforming with respect to the front yard setback. There would be 15-foot setbacks required were it not for the variance that was recently granted.
The building at 99 Church Street gained some fame in 2017 when director Steven Spielberg filmed his movie “The Post” in White Plains. The movie told the story of The Pentagon Papers and the Washington Post’s role in publishing them. The front of 99 Church St. was transformed into the exterior of the Post”s District of Columbia headquarters during the era of the Vietnam War.
The conceptual plan indicates that 6 Cottage Place would have a total of 55 units of housing, the same number of units as existed when it was used by Berkeley as a dorm. There would be 45 studios, five one-bedroom units and five two-bedroom units. The 99 Church St. building would be renovated and have a sixth story added. It would contain a total of 68 apartments, with 40 one-bedroom units, 20 two-bedroom units and eight three-bedroom units. The conceptual plan indicates that 82 parking spaces are being provided.
Wilder Balter has a history of creating a variety of real estate developments including affordable housing as well as luxury properties.
