Echo Bay critics sound off
A long-discussed redevelopment project on New Rochelle”™s Echo Bay appears to be headed for official approval this fall, although in a significantly scaled back form than originally planned.
Forest City Residential Inc., an affiliate of Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises, plans to build 285 luxury apartments, 25,000 square feet of retail space and a 5-acre waterfront park at an East Main Street site that includes a city public works yard and a portion of an unused armory building.
Not everyone is enamored with the proposal and some don”™t even like the artist”™s renderings of the completed work, which shows kayakers in the bay.
Robert Cox, who runs the New Rochelle blog Talk of the Sound, said the 5 acres of parkland would be on a mud flat near a sewage treatment facility, not the most ideal kayaking site.
“It”™s a fantastical notion that this is going to turn into an oasis down there,” he said. “I just don”™t really see that the endgame has really been thought through and I don”™t think we”™re going to be getting what”™s in these pictures.”
Cox was among more than 50 residents who spoke at a four-hour public hearing July 23 on the development, where emotions ran high and a vocal group of opposition called for the City Council to reject Forest City”™s proposal and open a new bidding process.
Beth Acocella, president of the East End Civic Association, said the original vision of the project was to bring in a number of retail stores, with marquee names such as Coach or Gucci possibly setting up shop in New Rochelle. The pared-back project hopes to bring in a restaurant and dry cleaner.
“Your renderings look great, they really do,” she said, “but this is not the right project for this area.” Acocella said when her association held a meeting to discuss the proposal, more than 200 people showed up.
The development was conceived in 2006 as a $450-million, 26-acre project that would include 710 residences, 150,000 square feet of retail and two 150-room hotels. The original proposal called for knocking down the armory and replacing it with a community center, a move that drew protests from veterans and other city residents who wanted the building preserved.
The development plans lost steam in late 2008, just as the worst of the economic recession was taking hold. When the project re-emerged in 2010, it was in a new, more tentative market, and Forest City modified its plan to more centrally focus on the site of the public works yard, which is set to be relocated and must either be moved or rebuilt due to its condition, according to officials. The developer will contribute $2.5 million to the move, with another $1.5 million coming from a state grant, though the entire purchase of new property and construction could cost upward of $30 million.
The 36,575-square-foot armory building will be spared, though its ultimate fate remains unclear. Last year, the city agreed to a proposal from a nonprofit group called Good Profit to convert the armory into a market, but the group failed to meet a deadline to pay the city a $50,000 fee and sign a letter of agreement for the project.
Much of the opposition to the modified Echo Bay proposal stems from the reduced retail space, a concern for a city whose residents often complain about having to visit other towns for their shopping needs. Supporters note that White Plains”™ recent business surge began with the development of luxury apartments and condominiums. But County Legislator Jim Maisano, a Republican who lives in New Rochelle, said residents heard a similar refrain during the construction of the Avalon and Trump high-rises years ago.
“They said, ”˜If you build it, they will come.”™ Well, where”™s the retail?” he asked. Maisano said he hoped the City Council would ultimately reject the project. “I don”™t think it”™s a close call ”“ this proposal is intellectually indefensible.”
Mayor Noam Bramson, a Democrat currently seeking election as county executive, said that the project remains an “important, impactful and significant development” for the city. “It”™s been my belief that our problem is not an absence of retail space, it”™s been a challenge filling that retail space. I”™d rather have 25,000 (square) feet successfully filled than have a larger portion, a portion of which goes vacant.”
Bramson touted the economic benefits of the project, the value to the community of opening up a currently inaccessible portion of the Long Island Sound and the development”™s potential to spark the entire area as originally envisioned.
“It is tempting, but dangerous to make ”˜the perfect”™ the enemy of ”˜the good,”™” he said.
Forest City officials said they have worked with the city to address concerns and will continue to do so prior to final approval. Earlier this year, the company addressed concerns over the projection of 22 new students in the school district. Forest City upped its projection, using the Rutgers Model, and now estimates an impact of 25 students and an additional eight private-school students. The developer, as part of a 20-year PILOT agreement, will pay $17,500 per public school student and $5,200 per private-school student for busing. There is a “look back” provision in the PILOT, which says after 10 years there will be an audit of actual students and an adjustment in payments as needed.
The city anticipates $11 million in direct revenue from the deal, with an additional $7 million in indirect revenues such as sales tax. Forest City will also float the bill for the environmental remediation at the site. Still, some residents aren”™t satisfied. Forest City recently upped the number of two-bedroom units in its proposal from 77 to 100. City resident James O”™Toole said the numbers compared with the projected impact on the schools didn”™t match up.
“I”™ve never seen a project like this in this city,” he said. “We”™re going to give the house away again.”
Byron Gray, president of the New Rochelle firefighters union, said the proposal didn”™t accurately analyze the effect on the fire department whose ranks have been diminished by cuts in recent years.
The lively public hearing and some high-profile detractors haven”™t dampened Forest City”™s interest in Echo Bay, according to company senior vice president Abe Naparstek. “We”™re still really excited about the project and we”™re moving forward with it,” he said.
Some more changes may be forthcoming, not necessarily as a result of the public comments, but due to discussions with elected officials, Naparstek said. For instance, the city is seeking assurances that the apartments won”™t be rented in bulk to undergraduate college students, a concern for some residents in the area.
The City Council is expected to vote before year”™s end on accepting the company”™s final environmental impact statement and several other procedural items. The project will need site plan approval from the New Rochelle Planning Board and approvals of its tax inducements from the city”™s Industrial Development Agency.
Even once approval is given, construction can”™t begin until New Rochelle is able to move its city yard to a new location. Still, Forest City is optimistic the project is only 15 to 18 months from breaking ground.