The owners of a senior residential complex in White Plains had plans to meet with officials from the state”™s attorney general office last week to discuss complaints made by residents who have been asked to leave while the building undergoes a roughly $35 million renovation and is converted into a mixed-use building.
A spokesman with the office of Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman confirmed the office is doing an initial inquiry, but would not expand beyond that.
Geoff Thompson, a spokesman for the Esplanade Senior Luxury Residences and its owners, a partnership that includes the Scharf family, said the Esplanade owners are cooperating with state officials.
“The top priority in approaching this project ”“ and it goes almost without saying ”“ has been dealing with the residents of the property,” Thompson said. “The whole process that we”™ve been going through with the seniors has been very transparent.”
A call to the president of the Esplanade Residents Association had not been returned as of press time.
Last year on Nov. 20, a letter was sent to each of the building”™s then-150 residents, who receive meals and cleaning as part of the living arrangement, informing them that the owners were looking to update the aging building and they would need to find new homes.
“After an extensive engineering evaluation, the owners have concluded that the 45-year-old building requires a multi-year complete overhaul,” the letter said. “We want to assure you that we are committed to working closely with all of our residents and their families to ease the transition to alternative locations and to help you identify and relocate to a new home.”
More than 80 people have left the Esplanade, which is located on 95 S. Broadway, since the letter went out and by February, 68 residents are estimated to be left, according to Thompson.
About 10 people have showed an interest in the annex, which is a hotel connected to the Esplanade by a pedestrian walkway and has been offered as a temporary home for seniors who cannot immediately find new homes.
For residents who moved to the Esplanade in 2015, prorated initiation fees will be paid and all people looking to move out of the Esplanade will have a portion of the moving costs paid for.
“We”™ve really tried to do everything we can to make this as easy as possible and not make it a financial burden,” Thompson said.
The plans to update the Esplanade, which was originally the White Plains Hotel until 1994 when it became a residence for seniors, include gutting the current building to improve the environmental quality of the structure and convert the space into a mixed-use development. The project proposal includes 212 rental units and more than 15,000 square feet of medical and restaurant space.
The site plan and a zoning text change were presented to the White Plains Common Council in December and those have been referred to the relevant city departments for their review. The next step will be a public hearing.
If approved, the Esplanade could be part of a major effort to revamp that downtown corridor in conjunction with a proposed development across the street that would attract more young professionals.
Lennar Multifamily Communities, a national developer with a regional office in Herndon, Va., seeks to tear down the Westchester Pavilion mall on 60 S. Broadway ”“ the property is still owned by Urstadt-Biddle Properties Inc. ”“ and erect two high-rise apartment buildings with commercial space on the first floors. That project is estimated to cost around $277 million.
