After several months of being adjourned, a plan to redevelop about a block of North Main Street in Port Chester that includes demolishing the long-shuttered Embassy Theatre has been brought back before the Port Chester Planning Commission by a new developer. Embassy Equity Partners LLC has made some changes in the project originally proposed by GS Port Chester Owner LLC, which surrendered its contractual rights as contract vendee for the properties at 128-156 North Main St.
The initial application for site plan approval for redevelopment of the theatre and surrounding buildings was made in April 2023 by GS Port Chester LLC and through August 2024 the proposed project was reviewed by the Planning Commission. Review of the application was subsequently adjourned by request of the former applicant from Jan. 2025 through Sept. 2025.
According to revised architectural site plans prepared by Lessard Design Inc., that are dated Nov. 4, the eight-story building would have 250 units, an increase of five units from what was previously proposed and with a different mix of apartment sizes. Currently proposed are 30 studios, 122 one-bedroom apartments, 86 two-bedroom apartments and 12 three-bedroom units. Ten percent of the units would be priced as affordable housing. There also would be 8,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space in the building.
“This development will be supported by 375 off-street, structured parking spaces, including 125 spaces that will be reserved for municipal public parking spaces governed by a Memorandum of Understanding to be executed between the Village Board of Trustees and the applicant,” Attorney Anthony B. Gioffre III of the White Plains-based law firm Cuddy & Feder told the Planning Commission. “As an outgrowth of meetings with village staff, including members of the Fire Department, the applicant is also showing the relocation of the Marvin Place parking spaces from the eastern side of Marvin Place to the western side, which will facilitate improved emergency response access.”
In a departure from what was originally shown to Port Chester, the newly-proposed building has been designed to create the appearance of three individual buildings along North Main Street and draws from some of the traditional architecture seen in Port Chester buildings from the late 19th century and early 20th century.
“The design pays homage to the Embassy Theatre structure, which was built in 1926 but has since fallen into disrepair and is proposed for demolition,” Gioffre said. “The architectural goal was for the new development to provide an appearance of an original structure wrapped in new construction.”
The Embassy Theatre, designed by prominent theater architect Thomas Lamb had 1,591 seats. It presented vaudeville and switched to silent films and then talkies. For a short time in the late 1930s, the Embassy hosted live shows and then went back to showing movies. The owners of the Embassy and the owners of Port Chester’s Capitol Theatre, also designed by Thomas Lamb, competed to book the best films. The Embassy closed as a movie theater in the early 1980s. In 1986, it was reopened as a dance club but quickly closed.
Gioffre pointed out that the new proposal would help bring additional vitality to the downtown area through new commercial activity as well as pedestrian improvements including replacement sidewalks, new street lighting and new trees along North Main Street, Highland Street, and Marvin Place.
Gioffre said that the development would provide a “range of residential units compatible with the lifestyles of singles, young professionals, and empty-nesters” in addition to supporting Port Chester’s transit-oriented development objectives while boosting the economy.
Gioffre noted that a new study of school-age children who would be living in the new building and attending the Port Chester Public Schools now shows that the revised unit mix would generate up to 14 school-aged children, fewer than the 42 who were estimated would be living in the development as it was originally proposed.
