Children’s Village plans mixed-use project in downtown Peekskill

The Children’s Village, which is based in Dobbs Ferry and was founded in 1851 to help the most vulnerable children mature safely into educated, responsible adults, has plans to convert an existing three-story office building in Peekskill into a residential and commercial property. Ten of the planned 22 units would be reserved for Children’s Village clients. The remaining apartments would be marketed for rent by others. The building also would be outfitted with five spaces on the basement level for use by commercial tenants.

The building is at 41 N. Division St. in Peekskill and has been vacant since the New York State Workers’ compensation Board moved out a few years ago. It had been built after World War II as a Genung’s Department Store.

According to project architect Joseph G. Thompson, whose office is on N. Division Street in Peekskill, 22 new apartments would be created on the second and third floors. The units would include 13 studios, six one-bedroom apartments, and three two-bedroom apartments. The units would range in size from 500 square feet to 880 square feet. All of the units would be priced as affordable housing.

Plans call for the basement commercial tenant spaces to range in size from 770 square feet to 840 square feet. The ground floor would have two commercial tenant spaces of 1,960 square feet and 3,940 square feet, a common lobby, a bicycle storage room, a mailroom, an elevator on the N. Division Street side, and a staircase on each side of the building.

Amenity spaces for the residents would include a rooftop patio, a gym, a business center, laundry facilities, a bicycle room with electric charging stations, and storage units. The building has been designed for energy efficiency, and would include rooftop solar cells, green roof areas and high efficiency HVAC systems.

The existing building is constructed to the lot lines and there is no space for parking on-site. The residential use would require 29 spaces and the commercial uses would require 34 spaces. The project would rely on existing parking in the area including the city’s James Street garage that has 453 spaces. More than 175 permits for parking in the garage remain unsold by the city, according to Children’s Village. Thompson said he expected that car usage per capita would be lower in the proposed project than in market-rate projects. He pointed out that the city’s existing parking infrastructure was more than adequate for the needs of the building when it was a department store and government office building.

Thompson noted that the development is located in a walkable downtown area and the commercial spaces would help attract new businesses to the downtown. There is a bus stop within one block of the property.

Jeremy Kohomban, president and CEO of Children’s Village, told Peekskill’s Planning Commission, “We think that building meets the most important components of our model: location; the opportunity to create some incredible beauty with a roof garden; close to transportation. It’s got a lot going for it. It checks all those boxes for us.”

Rose Noonan, executive director of the Housing Action Council, who is consulting with Children’s Village on the project, said the 12 units that would not be set aside for Children’s Village’s clients would be marketed throughout Westchester and the surrounding counties. She said that the marketing effort would last three-months and then there would be a lottery to select the tenants.

According to documents on file with the Westchester County Clerk’s Office, in May 2016 North Division-Main LLC purchased the building from 41 North Division Realty LLC for $1.3 million and still owns the property.