A new dawn for Rye Brook project with Sunrise Senior Living stepping in

The development of a senior living facility at 900 King St. in Rye Brook that was approved in 2021 but has languished since that time is taking on new life with Sunrise Senior Living, based in McLean, Virginia, stepping in. Sunrise has become the contract vendee to buy the project from the current developer and is asking the Village of Rye Brook to consider changes to the approved plans.

Rye King Associates LLC, which has an address at the Manhattan offices of real estate company George Comfort & Sons Inc., began obtaining approvals from Rye Brook for the project in 2017 when it submitted a zoning petition. A full environmental review was completed, comments from neighbors and other interested parties were addressed and design changes were introduced and site plan approval was granted in 2021.

In approving the project for Rye King Associates, Rye Brook set 17 pages of conditions that must be met by the developer at various stages of the project.

The approved project called for a 126-unit three- and four-story Independent Living (IL) facility in the center of the site; an 85-unit three- and four-story Assisted Living (AL) structure in the northeast portion of the site; and, 20 two-story residential townhouses in the western portion of the site.

There would be 230 parking spaces. Primary parking for IL residents would be located under the IL building. The plan calls for 52 surface parking spaces in the northeast portion of the site, around the AL building. There would be accessible spaces in front of the main entrance to the IL facility. The townhouses would have their own garages.

Amenities are included in the design that complement the type of living facility, such as a fitness center, multipurpose room, library, and, for those in assisted living, a secure wandering garden. Assisted living is designed for people who need help with one or more tasks of daily living, but do not require skilled nursing care.

The plan called for preserving approximately 11.02 acres constituting 62% of the site as open space that serves the needs of the residents.

Rye Brook Mayor Jason Klein said, “We’ve been sitting here a long time kind of waiting for some action and I for one am very pleased to see this moving forward again. This is a good sign of things to come. We’re very pleased to have Sunrise involved now and we’ve had a number of meetings. Seeing action here when there has been none for a long time is I think positive for the Village of Rye Brook.”

Attorney David Steinmetz of the White Plains-based law firm Zarin & Steinmetz and Stuart Lax, an architect with the firm Perkins Eastman, which created the approved architectural plans for the development, explained to the Rye Brook Board of Trustees that while Sunrise would like to make some changes to the approved plans, those changes do not significantly alter the project.

“The project is not getting bigger,” Steinmetz said. “As some of you previously heard me say, the project is getting better. It is actually getting a little bit smaller. There are some minor tweaks that are being contemplated and proposed. The good news is the building remains. There is no change in the roof height. There is no change in the density. The concept remains the same. These are almost indiscernible changes. Nothing has yet been filed formally. We are working on that as a team. We expect to be able to do that shortly.”

Lax outlined the proposed changes, which include slightly shrinking the footprint of the independent living and assisted living buildings, and increasing the number of units that have balconies. Another change would be the addition of an outdoor amenity for residents, possibly a golf putting green.

Steinmetz asked for an extension of the existing approvals, which previously had been extended until March 15 of next year. The Board of Trustees voted to approve adding six months to the existing extension, making the existing approvals good until Sept. 15, 2025.