Mayor Noam Bramson outlined a major redevelopment agenda for New Rochelle Thursday, saying the city would seek developers to construct thousands of new apartments as well as large amounts of new retail and office space.
Bramson, in his State of the City address, said that New Rochelle would seek master developers for a number of projects that in total would add 1.5 million square feet of office and medical space, 2,000 new apartments and 500,000 square feet of retail space. Master development agreements, Bramson said, would give a “bigger picture” view of development rather than multiple, smaller projects independent of one another.
“This is no timid, incremental step,” he said. “This is a bold stroke from an ambitious city that is determined to take charge of its own future.”
The area around the New Rochelle train station and the Main Street corridor would serve as two separate development “clusters,” with a master developer sought for each zone. The targeted areas for construction would include at least 10 city-owned properties as well as a number of privately-owned parcels, Bramson said.
The city had to expect a growth in population as part of the revitalization of the city”™s downtown, he said, and government officials will meet with public school representatives to assess and prepare for a potential influx of new students.
“Struggling cities shrink,” Bramson, a Democrat, said. “Healthy cities grow. And by planning ahead, we can grow the right way.” Bramson said with City Council support, he expects to have a request for qualifications out to potential developers as soon as May and a team in place as early as the end of summer.
Bramson also pledged during the speech to hire a marketing firm to help “brand” the city and to create a parking management team.
The speech was delivered at an annual event sponsored by the New Rochelle Chamber of Commerce at the Davenport Country Club. It was the mayor”™s first state of the city since he lost election as Westchester County executive in November and also the first since the City knocked down a proposed mixed-use development on Echo Bay after vocal community opposition and disputes between elected officials. Bramson was the sole dissenting vote when the council formally rejected an agreement with Forest City Residential Group Inc., the group chosen as developer for that project.
In the fallout of that failed project several questions remain for the city, including what will become of the former armory building there and whether or not the city will move a deteriorating maintenance yard that was to be razed as part of the project. The mayor, during a speech with a lighter-than-usual tone marked by several jokes, said he was letting City Council members take the reins to re-spark Echo Bay discussions.
“Having pushed hard for the last plan, and having heard a big chunk of our community say loud and clear ”˜not so fast, Mr. Mayor,”™ I respect that others deserve their chance to put forward alternatives,” he said.
There is more to the city”™s waterfront than Echo Bay though, Bramson said, and in his speech he said it was time to resurrect discussions about Davids Island, the long-abandoned site just off the coast of the city in Long Island Sound that used to house the Army base Fort Slocum. The mayor also said that using a state grant, the city could complete a “Local Waterfront Revitalization Plan” to clearly define the goals of waterfront development.
“New Rochelle is called the Queen City of the Sound but I”™m tired of that phrase being a wistful description of our past or a vague hope for our future,” he said. “I want that phrase to ring true for this generation of residents.”
