The entity 1019 Park Street LLC, which owns the building at 1019 Park St. in Peekskill, has proposed an adaptive reuse project for the building that would convert the two-story structure into a three-story mixed-use property. Peekskill-based architect Joseph G. Thompson is representing the applicant.
Portions of the building have been vacant and underutilized for a significant period of time and the building is in need of renovation, according to a staff report prepared for Peekskill’s Planning Commission.
The proposed plan would provide for 12 new apartment units on the existing second floor and the proposed new third floor. A vacant first floor space in the building would be renovated for a restaurant. M&T Bank will remain as the anchor tenant on the first floor, fronting on Park Street. The first-floor restaurant would have 91 dining seats, 18 bar seats, and a 200-square-feet private party room. Entrances will be from both Bank and Park Streets.
The second floor would have six apartments, storage units, and a business center for residents. The third floor also would have six apartments, storage and a gym for residents. The apartments would be mix of one-bedroom and two-bedroom units. One of the apartments would be priced as affordable housing. All units would have a washer/dryer and a garbage compactor. A new green roof will contain seating, skylights and utilities. There would be rooftop solar cells in addition to green areas. A high-efficiency HVAC system would be installed.
The project needs approval of a Special Permit from the Planning Commission to cover renovation of the existing second floor commercial space into apartments and to add a third floor for additional residential units. It also needs site plan approval, parking waivers and a variance for floor area ratio (FAR).
The staff report said that payment to the city of a $5,500 parks and recreation fee for each apartment will be required, totaling $66,000. The existing building is grandfathered and non-complying with respect to off-street parking and loading requirements, and is essentially a zero lot line building, meaning that the footprint of the building covers all or almost all of the entire lot on which it sits.
Under zoning, the project would need to provide 17 parking spaces for the residential units but that might be handled by the developer making a payment to the city in lieu of providing parking. In addition, 20 parking spaces would be required for the restaurant, but the city has in the past waived parking requirements for restaurants in the downtown.
Thompson said that the building façade is planned to be renovated “to enhance the building’s appearance by replacing the existing deteriorated metal panels, cleaning the cut limestone façade and integrating the new windows needed to support the third story addition in a manner that sensitively integrates the new fenestration with the original building architecture. ”
Thompson said that the project would support Gov. Kathy Hochul’s New York Housing Compact goal of creating 800,000 new homes in New York state over the next decade to address the current housing shortage.
“We believe this adaptive reuse proposal has been crafted in a manner that will substantially enhance the existing building, and by activating the spaces within it offers benefit to the downtown,” Thompson said.
