434-unit project planned for White Plains ‘restaurant row’

A proposal by a Phoenix-based real estate development company would bring 434 apartments and additional retail and restaurant space to the popular White Plains restaurant corridor on Mamaroneck Avenue.

Alliance Residential Partners, one of the country’s largest private integrated multifamily real estate companies, has filed plans with the city to build the project, called Broadstone White Plains, at the corner of Mamaroneck Avenue and East Post Road.

Plans call for a 440,000-square-foot apartment tower complex that would include three building segments: a 16-story building, a 15-story building and a six-story building. The project includes frontage on Mitchell Place as well. At street level, there will be about 8,000 square feet of retail space, divided into two spaces, which developers say would likely be used for restaurants.

Greg Belew, managing director of development for the Northeast region of Alliance Residential Company, said the property’s location along restaurant row made it especially attractive. Mamaroneck Avenue is home to a number of popular restaurants and nightlife spots.

“That can really help set our apartment community apart from others,” Belew said.

The design, by international architecture firm Lessard Design, calls for a mix of 35 studios, 247 one-bedroom apartments, 130 two-bedroom, and 22 three-bedroom apartments. Of those units, 6 percent would be designated as affordable.

The six-story parking structure would be within the building, not visible from street level, Belew said.  The plan also calls for a small park open to the public on the Mitchell Place side of the building.

Alliance Residential Partners filed plans with the city for the Broadstone White Plains project earlier this month, Belew said. The project would need only site plan approval. The developers will also apply to the Westchester Industrial Development Agency for potential assistance, he said. He declined to provide an estimate on the total cost for the project.

He said the development, given its location, could appeal to a wide range of demographics.

“We’re right in the middle of restaurant row, only several blocks from the train station… we have a central location that will be appealing to younger renters,” Belew said. “But also appealing to an older demographic that may be empty nesters and want to be close to shopping and restaurants.”

Broadstone White Plains would represent Alliance Residential Partners first development in New York. The company owns 89,000 units in 32 metropolitan markets, focused heavily in the western part of the country, but also in the south in Florida, Georgia, Maryland and Virginia.

The company has offices in Manhattan and Secaucus, N.J. The company’s first project in the region is preparing to open soon: the 393-unit Broadstone at River’s Bend in New Brunswick, N.J.

Belew said the company targets “vibrant urban/suburban nodes,” making White Plains a fit for its growing operations in the New York metropolitan region.

“In terms of density of shopping and restaurants and the availability of good transit options, the city has made great strides in coming into its own as a desirable residential destination,” Belew said.

He’s certainly not alone in that view. The city has drawn a steady stream of developers willing to make substantial investments on luxury rentals. At the same Jan. 31 meeting that Alliance presented the White Plains Common Council with its plan, a separate development team presented plans to convert the 330,000-square-foot former AT&T office building at 440 Hamilton to residential uses. A recently approved $275 million redevelopment of the Westchester Pavilion a couple blocks from the Broadstone proposal will include 707 rental units. Development around the city’s Metro-North station has been led by a $250 million development under construction now at 55 Bank St. that will have 561 apartment rental units and a proposed redevelopment of White Plains Mall that would bring another 600 units. The city is also reviewing a project that would add 400 rental units at the former Good Counsel campus on North Broadway. 

“What we see is a lot of people are getting priced out of New York City, so they start to look at other alternatives just outside the city with a reasonable commute,” Belew said. “White Plains has a lot of amenities and a 35-minute ride into Grand Central. You could very easily have a 35-minute ride or more from some parts of Brooklyn.”