The White Plains Common Council on the evening of June 3 approved an ordinance to change zoning as requested by two developers who joined together to file a petition for a zoning modification that they suggest will allow their adjoining projects to move forward.
The developers are Toll Brothers through TB White Plains Apartments, LLC, and Saber-North White Plains, LLC. White Plains Apartments is developing a project dubbed Adora Row at 80 Westchester Ave. and Saber-North is developing property at 70 Westchester Ave.
Attorneys David Steinmetz and Marsha Rubin Goldstein of the White Plains-based law firm Zarin & Steinmetz LLP represent TB White Plains Apartments and Mark Weingarten and Janet Giris of the White Plains-based law firm DelBello Donnellan Weingarten Wise & Wiederkehr LLP represent Saber-North.
The Common Council approved an environmental findings resolution and then an ordinance that adjusted zoning for the parcels being used for the two projects. The White Plains Apartments project is on a 3.1-acre parcel and the adjacent Saber property is approximately 1.83 acres. The law firms joined in asking the city to consider rezoning approximately 72,444 square feet of the Saber Property and the Toll Property from the B-3 Intermediate Business District to the RM-0.35 Residential Multi-Family District. They say that by so doing the developers will be able to modify their projects to increase the number of apartments and once again make the projects viable.
Adora Row was approved in 2022 for the development of approximately 20,549 square feet of retail and restaurant space and 276 dwelling units together with approximately 753 parking spaces. There was a four-story building and an 11-story building. A previous project by a different developer had been approved for the site in 2018.
The Saber Property, which is adjacent to the Toll Property to the west, was approved in 2021 for the development of three buildings containing a total of 175 dwelling units and approximately 15,000 square feet of motor vehicle sales, retail and restaurant space, together with 295 parking spaces and related infrastructure. There was a one-story building, a three-story building and an 11-story building.
“As a result of the unanticipated impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, including extreme escalations in hard costs and the decline in capital markets, the Petitioners have encountered unforeseen challenges in developing their respective projects,” the attorneys said in a joint letter to Mayor Tom Roach and the White Plains Common Council. “Both developers have determined that construction of their respective projects as currently approved may not be financially feasible. To increase the economic viability of their respective projects, Petitioners are seeking approval of additional residential units to make development of the projects financially possible.”
They said that they believe the resulting developments would be consistent with recommendations contained in the draft of the city’s revised Comprehensive Plan, “One White Plains.” They said that if granted the zoning change would allow the developers to build revised projects that would foster more diverse and vibrant communities and support middle income households and thus reinforce economic diversity in the city.
If the zoning change goes through as requested, Toll would seek amended site plan and special permit approvals from the Common Council to increase the number of apartments by 58 units from 276 to 334 with a proposed unit mix of 29 studios, 166 one-bedroom units, 6 one-bedroom plus den units, and 133 two-bedroom units. Toll would add three stories to one of the buildings in its project. It would reduce the 20,549 square feet of retail space in that building to 14,576 square feet. The number of off-street parking spaces would increase from 753 to 808.
Saber would seek amended site plan and special permit approvals from the Common Council to increase the number of dwelling units on its property by 28, from 175 units to 203. The proposed unit mix would be 34 studios, 81 one-bedroom units, 31 one-bedroom plus den units, and 57 two-bedroom units. Saber would eliminate a building and add two stories to one of the buildings and one story to another. It would replace the previously approved 10,000 square feet of motor vehicle sales space with approximately 6,334 square feet of retail space and 3.436 square feet of office space. It would decrease the number of off-street parking spaces from 295 to 273.
The attorneys submitted material from engineering consultants that they said shows that the city’s infrastructure is adequate to accommodate the development of additional dwelling units on the Toll property and the Saber property, and that the actions as proposed “are not reasonably expected to result in any significant adverse environmental impacts.”
