City OKs site plans for senior living project

The North Street Community senior living project received site-plan approval from the White Plains Common Council last week in a 6-1 vote. Construction is expected to get under way by September.
The new community, which will be operated under the auspices of Noyack Medical Partners L.L.C. of New York, will consist of 335 luxury condominium units in four new structures (ranging from four to six stories), 92 assisted-living units and some 20 Alzheimer”™s units. Six percent of the condominium units will be affordably priced based on the city”™s affordable-housing guidelines. 
Noyack Medical CEO CJ Follini and partner Andrew Greene of White Plains bought the 23-acre, former St. Agnes Hospital property on North Street for $21.4 million in a foreclosure proceeding by the New York State Dormitory Authority in June of 2004. Noyack”™s high bid bested by $200,000 that of a trio of developers led by Joseph Simone”™s Simone Development Cos. of New Rochelle, The Pirro Group, the development consultancy of Albert Pirro Jr., and New York City developer Fisher Bros.
“From the first moment we met with Mayor (Joseph) Delfino in the summer of 2004 until today our commitment to bring the best in senior living to White Plains has never wavered,” said Follini. “When construction is completed in two years, about 15 percent of the city”™s population will be over the age of 65, and this campus will include the most advanced design, illustrious amenities and most comprehensive suite of integrated health care of any senior development in the country.”
Follini said there is “an enormous, pent-up demand” in White Plains for housing for people above the age of 60, and “335 units is a drop in the bucket.”
In fact, Follini said, White Plains did not even have “senior residential” zoning in the city until this recent site-plan approval.
The project will also feature a two-story club building, which will be the social center of the community nestled between the four residential buildings. The 28,000-square-foot facility will offer residents a range of activities and amenities, including a wellness center with whirlpool and lap pool designed to support water aerobics, a spa, an exercise fitness area and dining venues.
Residents will also have access to an array of medical practices at the four-story, 72,000-square-foot Medical Building at 311 North St. that will remain on the property.
The 150,000-square-foot former hospital building at 305 North St. will be adapted to accommodate the assisted-living and Alzheimer”™s units.
Designed by New York City-based Perkins Eastman Architects P.C., North Street Community”™s features include:
Two-bedroom apartments ranging in size from 1,000 to 1,600 square feet;
Extra wide doors and corridors, assistance devices in bathrooms, emergency pull cords and call system, and ADA compliant fixtures;
Terraces for all first-floor units;
Elevators in the residential buildings and parking garage; and
Two-level parking structure.
The grounds will have a variety of public spaces, including plazas, terraces and outdoor common areas. Shuttle service to and from downtown White Plains will be provided for residents.
In addition, a valet parking service will be available for patients and visitors to the former hospital building housing the assisted-living and Alzheimer”™s units as well as the Medical Building. An additional three-level parking structure will provide parking for physicians and staff working at these two buildings.
North Street Community will also incorporate “green” building technologies and practices, including “green” roofs for energy efficiency. The plan will start with the retrofitting of existing buildings and continue throughout all new structures.
The Children”™s Rehabilitation Center and John A. Coleman School, formerly the Carvel Children”™s Rehabilitation Center that opened in 1996, will remain on the property.