Rye-based developer Elk Homes through Elk Chatsworth LP has proposed a 5-story, mixed-use project for the heart of Larchmont. The project, to be named Centro Larchmont, would be on two parcels totaling just under one-third of an acre.
The properties are at 108-114 Chatsworth Ave. and 65 Wendt Ave. The proposal is to replace existing commercial structures with a 26-unit condo building that would contain 5,000 square feet of retail space fronting on Chatsworth Avenue. Elk Homes said that 23 of the condo units would be market rate and three would be priced in the affordable category. The units would be sized from 900 square feet to 3,500 square feet.
The Chatsworth property has a single-story brick building and the Wendt property has a 2½-story frame structure being used for professional offices. The Chatsworth property is in the retail center commercial district and the Wendt Avenue property is in the multifamily district. Elk Homes is asking the village to create a special-use category defined as a Public Amenity Supplemented Mixed-Use Development and grant a special-use permit for the project.
As part of its proposal, Elk Homes has offered to add a deck to the village-owned parking lot on the north side of Wendt Avenue. The new deck would have 28 parking spaces, four of them designated for handicapped use. Elk has also offered to build and maintain a new 10-foot-wide accessible pedestrian walkway from the parking lot to Chatsworth Avenue. It is asking the village to grant an easement to use a 5-foot-wide strip of village-owned land for part of the walkway. It would grant an easement for the sidewalk back to the village. As designed, the condo building would contain 54 parking spaces for residents and merchants.
Designing the project is architecture firm Perkins Eastman. The building design incorporates many classic architectural elements contextually significant within the Larchmont Central Business District. It would utilize green construction techniques and will be LEED certified.
Gary Hirsch, chairman of Elk Homes, said, “The project offers many benefits to the community with increased tax revenue for the schools and village, additional parking for the village and much-needed modern retail stores ”“ and all with minimal impact on municipal services.”
The developer suggests that real estate taxes would benefit the Mamaroneck Union Free School District with surplus revenue of $385,000 in just its first year because few, if any, school-age children are expected to be living in the building. The condos are expected to be marketed as being ideal for local residents wishing to downsize while remaining in the community.
Elk Homes specializes in constructing and operating “infill” multifamily buildings in the downtowns of villages such as Mamaroneck and Pelham, as well as renting single-family homes in prime Westchester and Fairfield communities.
