Special Permit and Site Plan approvals are being sought for a mixed-use project in White Plains that would have 154 units of affordable housing along with 5,000 square feet of retail space. The applicant Fisher Hill Owner LLC and Fisher Hill 90 Westmoreland LLC calls the proposed building The Sheffield, a nod to the Sheffield Dairy that in the past had a distribution facility at the site located at 90-114 Westmoreland Ave. The applicant is the contract vendee to buy the 1.024-acre site.
According to Attorney William Null of the White Plains-based law firm Cuddy & Feder, the site is immediately adjacent to the newly-renovated Kittrell Park and is on the easterly side of Westmoreland Avenue, surrounded by Home Street on the north and Intervale Street on the south.
Null said that this is “an ideal location for an apartment building, particularly one focused on providing affordable housing in the City of White Plains. The Sheffield project is a collaborative venture amongst White Birch Development LLC, Marathon Development Group, and Lashins Development Corp.”
Null said that since its inception in 2004, White Birch Development LLC/Touchstone Builders Inc., and its affiliated development companies, have either constructed or redeveloped more than 2,200 affordable housing units in New York state, most of which are in Westchester County. He said they have an additional 400 affordable units in the pipeline.
At present, the site has on it one- and two-story warehouse buildings and at-grade parking. The 154 apartments in The Sheffield would consist of 26 studio units, 92 one-bedroom units, and 36 two-bedroom units. One apartment would be reserved for the building’s superintendent. Rents would be set to be affordable to tenants earning 80% of the Westchester Area Medan Income (AMI) with approximately 80% of the units priced to be affordable to tenants earning 60% of the AMI.
“The Sheffield would help address the vision of the City of White Plains to increase access to affordable housing in the downtown area near the train station,” Null said. “The Sheffield fully will provide needed housing near to the train station and will activate the pedestrian streetscape by adding residents and establishing neighborhood retail.”
Null said that the applicant obtained a variance from the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals to allow the building to rise to six-stories at 68 feet although zoning limits buildings in the area to four-stories and 50 feet. A variance also was obtained for the building’s coverage because it would exceed 80%. He said that a rezoning of the Westmoreland Avenue area was intended to encourage this type of residential development.
The plan calls for a total of 238 parking spaces to be provided in the cellar, first, and second floors of the building with vehicle access provided from both Home Street and Intervale Street.
An analysis of traffic impacts for this project by Kimley-Horn Engineering found that it would not have a significant adverse impact on area traffic operating conditions. The proposed development is projected to generate 56 trips during the morning peak hour and 60 trips during the afternoon peak hour.
Architectural plans were prepared by Warshauer Mellusi Warshauer Architects, P.C.
