The Town of North Castle, which had been considering using the powers of eminent domain to acquire 333 Main St., in Armonk for use as a new town hall, is now looking at doing something else. The Main Street building is where the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner has offices.
North Castle has issued a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) seeking developers that would be interested in redeveloping town-owned properties for uses that would include new municipal facilities.
The town-owned properties are at 15, 17 ad 21 Bedford Road in Armonk. The current North Castle Town Hall is at 15 Bedford Rd. The RFEI says that developers could include residential, commercial, and institutional uses along with the town’s intended municipal uses.
The deadline for submitting responses to the RFEI is Sept. 22 at 4:30 p.m., and North Castle says it may be ready to follow the RFEIÂ by issuing a Request for Proposals sometime in October or November.
North Castle Town Supervisor Joseph Rende told the Business Journal that when he came into office he realized there were deficiencies in the town’s current facilities including the police department and the town courtroom facility within the current town hall.
“We have people from various departments in different buildings and it’s a very inefficient way of running the government,” Rende said. “My understanding at the time was that the Boies Schiller building was underutilized. I spoke with one of the principals. We started to move forward with an eminent domain proceeding, which we still have available to us but there was a segment of the population in town that had concerns that before we move forward with eminent domain why don’t we look at other alternatives.”
Eminent domain allows a government to acquire for public purposes a piece of property even if the owner is not willing to voluntarily sell. A proper price must be paid to the property owner.
According to the RFEI, the main site for redevelopment is approximately 9.4 acres in area. It is improved by the North Castle Town Hall, which houses the offices of the town’s supervisor, board and administrator. It also houses the police department, and the North Castle Town Justice Court, as well as the town clerk, tax assessor, tax receiver. The building, planning, and conservation departments have offices in an annex located to the rear of Town Hall. The site also contains on-site parking and landscaped areas including a ball field. The North Castle Town Highway Yard, covering approximately 4.5 acres, is currently located on the southeastern portion of the Town Hall site. The town intends to relocate that facility.
The REFI positions downtown Armonk as the primary center for retail trade in North Castle and suggests that a mixed-use project could make an important contribution to the vitality of Armonk and North Castle.
Rende said that it appeared that one way to look at other ideas would be to do an RFEI and get public input and see what the developer community might have in mind.
“I looked at other municipalities, not only in Westchester, who have entered into public-private partnerships,” Rende said. “They issue RFEIs. There is no commitment of any private enterprise that is responding. It would be an exercise in helping us get information and see if there are any possible ways to do this other than entering into eminent domain. The information or possibilities we get back may lead us to recognizing that 333 Main St., which is the Boies Schiller building is the best alternative.”
Rende said that a mixed-use development could be an economical way for North Castle to wind up with the new municipal facilities it needs while the developer brings new residential and commercial uses to the area. He said that the budget for a project would depend on what the developer would propose.
“We have a lot of information on what the cost potentially could be on the Boies Schiller building, but we don’t know what a complete new structure would cost us and that’s what we’re hoping to start getting some answers to in the responses to the RFEI,” Rende said.
Rende said that once a plan has been created a referendum would be held, giving voters the chance to approve or reject moving ahead with a development plan.
“We want this to be an open and transparent process in the full light of day,” Rende said. “We would not move forward with anything without the input of the public. There would definitely be a bond resolution with the referendum. The good news for us as a town is that financially we’re in a very good, solid position. We have a Triple A bond rating, so our ability to borrow money through a bond offering is great and it would be the most economical way to pay for this at the end of the day.”
