The Village of Croton-on-Hudson has selected WBP Development LLC, which is based in Chappaqua to move forward with a project that could create up to 100 apartments on Croton Point Avenue near the Croton-Harmon rail yard. WBP Development is headed by William Balter. The firm’s projects include a number of affordable housing developments in Westchester. Balter told the village trustees that the company has been developing projects for about 34 years.
Croton-on-Hudson decided to sell a parking lot for development and after issuing a Request for Proposals selected WBP to handle the project. It reached agreement for WBP to buy the parking lot for $2.3 million. WBP would develop a five-story building with approximately 55 units on the parking lot site. The units could be offered for sale as condominiums. If WBP is able to move ahead and purchase an adjoining privately-owned parcel at 1 Croton Point Ave., that already has a building on it, that site would be merged with the parking lot to create a site for 95 or 100 apartments. WBP has a contract with the site’s owner for a purchase. The project also would feature a public pocket park. A substantial portion of what’s currently pavement at the parking lot would be turned into green space.
The village’s Board of Trustees at its May 8 meeting approved authorizing the village manager to execute an agreement with WBP granting it access to the parking lot site to conduct due diligence for the possible development of the property, including activities such as investigation, surveying, testing, and photography.
The agreement between the village and WBP provides that at least 20% of the units will be priced as affordable. If the project offers dwelling units for sale, the affordable units will be available to homeowners with incomes of up to 120% of the Westchester County Area Median Income (AMI). If they are rental apartments, the rents for the affordable category units would be set to be affordable to tenants earning up to 80% of the AMI.
WBP proposed to the village that if it is able to incorporate the privately-owned parcel into the project, it would include 1,500 square feet of commercial space. There would be 104 parking spaces provided.
“Westchester County is a place that has great transportation and also has remote areas that don’t have great transportation,” Balter told the Board of Trustees. “Where you have transportation the idea is to have more density and have people not have to drive all over the place to get there. The idea of having development that is really about a three-minute walk to the train, that’s what makes it transit-oriented. Not only that, it’s also next to a highway, so it has both of those things. It’s also a walk to the village so it sort of has everything you’d want in a development.”
The village had determined that changes in commuting since the Covid pandemic resulted in the underutilization of the parking lot and the village has been evaluating the site for adaptive reuse. It determined that the potential for creating affordable apartments that would be for-sale could add a much-desired option that Croton-on-Hudson currently does not have. It found WBP’s consideration of an affordable ownership element to be important.
The village made it plain that various legal documents need to be negotiated with WBP and special permit approval, site plan approval and engineering review would be needed along with satisfying State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) requirements.
The village said that the redevelopment of the parking lot “will take an underused parcel of village-owned property, one that used to generate revenue through parking payments, and put it back on the tax rolls. The sale of the property will also provide the village with funds to capitalize needed infrastructure projects and village services while minimizing the impact on property taxpayers. Finally, it will help the village make progress on long-identified planning goals.”
