57-unit mixed-use development planned in Peekskill

A prominent figure in Yonkers government and political circles has established a presence in Peekskill. Chuck Lesnick is a member of the entity Broad Howard LLC that is proposing to build a 57-unit mixed-use project at Broad and Howard Streets. Lesnick, who served as president of the Yonkers City Council and was the city’s director of economic development, has been spearheading the shepherding of the planned development through Peekskill’s approval process, which has included appearances in front of the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals and Historic Landmark Preservation Board as well as the Planning Commission.

Lesnick, an attorney who serves as “of counsel” to the law firm Marks DiPalermo Wilson PLLC, which has offices in White Plains and Manhattan, also had served as deputy counsel and assistant commissioner for New York State Homes and Community Renewal, which has been active in helping to promote and fund affordable housing projects.

“When we first introduced the project in 2021 … at the time we presented a rough concept of a building with 50 to 75 units with heavy reliance at that time on a municipal parking garage and not too much on-site parking,” Lesnick said. “We subsequently met with the mayor and city council and the city’s professional staff … we met with local residents, artists, business owners and we listened a lot. I’ve been coming to Peekskill so often that they actually asked me to run for a seat on the BID (Business Improvement District) board. I’ve been on the BID board now for half-a-year. I come at least once a week to Peekskill.”

The project has been seeking special permit, site plan and environmental approvals. A public hearing on the project at the commission’s Feb. 14 meeting was held open for additional comments and the project was expected to be taken up again at the commission’s March 12 meeting.

Lesnick said that as a result of comments received they decided to keep the structures on Howard Street down to three stories as seen from the street and they would not have access and egress on Howard Street.

Lesnick said that the development entity decided to provide more parking on-site and also to make the building more energy efficient. They also determined they would enhance the units while keeping them affordable but, as Lesnick put it, “actually nicer, which is a bit like asking me to eat more ice cream and also lose weight.”

Lesnick said that the development eneity acquired four more parcels that are to be used for providing additional parking in addition to the parking being provided in a garage under the building. He also said that a sculpture garden would be part of the project. He said the city’s Historic Landmark Preservation Board granted conditional approval for demolishing a building at 114 North Broad while preserving some of the elements of the building’s historic facade.

“Since 2021, the prices of building materials have doubled, the price of interest has gone up three times,” Lesnick said. “However, there’s money from the American Rescue Plan and both the state and county have prioritized affordable housing or workforce housing,” Lesnick said. “As one of the only proposed projects in the Peekskill Federal Opportunity Zone … we will receive expedited and favorable review from the state and the county. We are meeting many of the county’s goals.”

Architect Andy Ruff of GOA Architecture in New Haven told the Peekskill Planning Commission, “The primary site is a 1.04-acre aggregation. The project has three primary faces: we have North Broad, Howard and then we’re kind of a background building to Main Street. The two primary elevations that we’re concerned with are having a character that is appropriate for North Broad that is more commercial and denser in its morphology and it having a character along Howard Street that is more residential and smaller scale, broken up, that fits with the pattern of those existing homes.”

Ruff said that the building is organized in a north-south orientation with a series of linear elements. He said they are doing everything to keep the heights, especially on Howard Street, as low as possible. He said that approximately 1,000 square feet of retail space would be facing onto North Broad Street.

Ruff said there would be an open area for use by residents as well as neighbors of the development. He said landscaping would be sued to help the project blend into the neighborhood. Ruff described a series of courtyards in the project that provide additional green space for residents while helping manage stormwater.

Ruff said that the building design would not be like many mixed-use projects that feature retail space with very high ceilings at the street level and then apartments above. He said a typical 15-foot height for retail would be inappropriate for the neighborhood and they want to keep the retail space at a “more residential scale.”

“This isn’t a high-bay open concept retail space; this is more domestic in scale,” Ruff said.