A mixed-use project is being developed for a site in Port Chester where Tarry Lodge, the restaurant which had been operated by celebrity chef Mario Batali and others, is located, the Business Journal has learned.
The Business Journal was told that developer David Mann”™s Lighthouse Living has prepared a plan calling for the construction of a 9-story mixed-use building on a site along Mill Street between Abendroth Avenue and North Main Street. Existing structures would be demolished. The building would be 113-feet high and would contain 274 residential units along with 27,905 Â square feet of retail space. There would be 358 parking spaces provided.
It is anticipated that a presentation will be made at Port Chester”™s Planning Commission meeting on Sept. 30. The proposal would then be subject to an extensive review process that would include public hearings.
The company operating Tarry Lodge, La Loggia LLC d/b/a Tarry Lodge Port Chester, filed a notice with the state Department of Labor that the restaurant would be closing on Nov. 22 “due to construction occurring on the premises.” The notice stated that it had a total of 50 employees, all of whom would be affected by the closing.
The Tarry Lodge website this afternoon made no reference to a planned closing. Tarry Lodge was acquired in 2008 by chefs Mario Batali, Andy Nusser and restaurateur Joe Bastianich.
The restaurant was the recipient of much fanfare, in part a reflection of Batali”™s reputation as a television personality and culinary expert. Batali, who was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women and entered a not guilty plea in a case being prosecuted in Boston, severed his relationship with the restaurant earlier this year.
The Business Journal was unable to immediately confirm a report that the Tarry Lodge would like to reopen in some of the commercial space to be built as part of the new project.
Tarry Lodge had an adjacent food market operating along with the restaurant, but the market closed in June 2018. It featured Italian specialties including meats and cheeses. A wine outlet, Tarry Wine, remained open.
Lighthouse Living has been responsible for several multifamily projects in Westchester, including One DeKalb Ave., 42 Waller Ave. and 115 N. Broadway in White Plains, Wood Works at 550 Halstead Ave. in Harrison and The Light House at 120 N. Pearl St. in Port Chester.
When interviewed by the Business Journal in March, Mann mentioned a new projected he was working on for Port Chester. “We’ve been hiring more people and we have another development in Greenville, South Carolina, which is going to be our biggest; that’s 244 units. Then, I have another one coming in Pleasantville in Westchester and another one in Port Chester,” he said at the time.
Mann said that the smaller projects he had been doing helped him stand out from other developers.
“We pride ourselves on providing nicer finishes and bigger actual apartments. A lot of these developments that are 300 units, they’ll have one-bedrooms that are like 600 square feet and two-bedrooms that are like 792 square feet. Our one-bedrooms pretty much average 800 square feet and our two-bedrooms average about 1,170 square feet. Studios are always over 600 square feet,” he said.
Mann”™s past projects usually have incorporated modular construction.
The Tarry Lodge was around and feeding us LONG before Mario Batali….just saying.
I was going to say the same! It was NOT founded by Mario Bottali….it was ACQUIRED by him becoming part owner
What a shame. Beautiful building. I understand that TL will reopen in the new premises or elsewhere.
The Rocca family owned and operated the Tarry Lodge long before Batali.
Traffic? Congestion? Noise?
So very sad. That building has been a restaurant forever with the same name. Now of course it’s a bit on the pricey side . I still go there upon occasion. The food is good and so is the service. Very sad!
I for one am sick of all the new development. It takes me 30 minutes to go from stop and shop to Byram – less than one mile. There is little room to walk on sidewalks with all the out of towners coming for shows now you want to add more people. The quality of life is really starting to suck here. I don’t recommend moving here unless you like to sit in traffic all the time.
If this get approved we need elect all new people and hold the old people accountable. For one the building will be to big. 9 stories on main street, you have to be out of your mind to approve such a thing. The traffic is so bad at that intersection it took me 15 min to go 1 block today. That’s when I saw the sign and looked it up. The worst part is the only people that really make money is Mr. Mann. His last project was on pearl and I don’t know any locals that were hired for that job because its a modular design. I also noticed that when it was going up things did not align properly so it looked like they were shimming it to make it work. While I can’t make the meeting on the Oct 28, because of work I do hope Port Chester does not allow this project.