Sean Kearney, vice president of Kearney Realty & Development Group based in Baldwin Place, has told the Dobbs Ferry Board of Trustees that a timetable prepared by the company for its forthcoming development in the village calls for construction to begin in the spring or summer of 2027.
Kearney was selected by the village to develop three village-owned lots into mixed-income housing. Seven developers responded to a Request for Qualifications that was issued by the village. The project would transform two vacant lots on Cedar Street and a parking lot at 99 Cedar St. into housing, while also providing public parking.
The Board of Trustees has taken the position that sale of the lots to the developer and development of the sites will only proceed once an environmental review required by the State Environmental Quality Review Act is completed and the project receives all required land use approvals, including those of the Dobbs Ferry Planning Board and the Board of Trustees.
In a presentation to the Board of Trustees, Sean Kearney said that since being selected in April as the developer, the company has completed title reports for the properties, completed boundary and topological reports, completed the first phase of the environmental site assessment, and is working on preliminary site design and building plans. It plans to begin the community engagement phase, including meetings with residents, early in 2026.
“We look to create one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments serving Westchester area median incomes (AMI) of 30%, 60% 90%, all the way up to 115%,” Kearney said. “That’s a pretty wide range of incomes that’s typically not provided in traditional affordable housing.”
According to current AMI calculations, the 30% AMI would be an annual income of $35,702 and the annual income of a tenant earning 115% of the AMI would be $226,676.
Kearney said that they would like to use the sloping topography to create at the Cedar Street parking lot a parking deck in the lower section of the parcel and then construct a building above. He said they would like to do an all-electric building that uses renewable energy, especially solar and geothermal. He said they would provide electric vehicle charging stations as well as indoor bike storage.
Kearney said that they currently are planning to apply for funding for the project in the fall of next year and if they are successful would look to buy the properties from the village in 2027.
“When we hone in on a unit count and know how many parking spaces and units we’ll have a traffic consultant to do not only a traffic study but a parking study,” Kearney said. “They’ll look at the peak times. the commuters will have different peak times than the residential and the same with anyone using the parking lot for Main Street businesses. I think there will be some efficiencies that we can find based on the peak demands.”
According to Dobbs Ferry Mayor Vincent Rossillo, “The goal is to create homes for folks like teachers, nurses, municipal workers, seniors, and young professionals, who want to move to or stay in Dobbs Ferry but for whom there isn’t currently enough housing.”
Rossillo has assured Dobbs Ferry residents of on-going community involvement as the projects plans are developed.
“The impact on our community will be analyzed as closely as any other development, with public hearings and consideration from both our Planning Board and Board of Trustees, as well as all required environmental reviews. Plus, we ensured this agreement adds even more public engagement, with additional public workshops hosted by the Kearney Group. And it’s important to note that we will not sell village property until we have an approved plan,” Rossillo said.
