Greystar breaks ground on 500-unit $275M White Plains project
Greystar Real Estate Partners LLC, which is headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, and manages and operates approximately $230 billion worth of real estate in 215 markets around the world, has broken ground on a mixed-use project in White Plains. The ceremonial lifting of shovels took place at the construction site on March 2, following a gathering in the lobby of the Gateway I office building, which is located directly across Hamilton Avenue from the construction site.
Louis Cappelli’s LRC Construction is building the project for Greystar on the Gateway II site near the train station at 25 N. Lexington Ave., which had been used for many years as a parking lot. Cappelli’s work crews actually began site work in January. Plans call for the project to be completed in the first half of 2024.
The estimated $275 million development features two intersecting towers. One is 16 stories and the other 25 stories. The towers rise from a four-story podium that conceals a covered parking structure. The project will provide 755 parking spaces. The complex will feature 19,000 square feet of ground floor retail space along with nearly 60,000 square feet of amenities. There would be 500 luxury rental apartments: 167 studios; 208 one-bedroom units; 117 two-bedroom units; and eight three-bedroom units.
Greystar points out that various amenities for the residents are located throughout the building rather than concentrated in one area. There will be a state-of-the-art fitness center, yoga class studio, study rooms, a children”™s room, private dining and meeting rooms, a sports/media lounge, a pet spa and dog run, a golf simulator and a sky lounge on the 17th floor with grilling stations, lounge areas and fire pits.
Other outdoor amenities include a sun deck and swimming pool on the 5th floor along with grilling stations, gazebos, fire pits, lawn area and community gardens.
The 3.54-acre Gateway II site had been controlled by the Alaska Permanent Fund, which was created to invest Alaska’s oil proceeds. The fund teamed up with Greystar Real Estate Partners LLC and Greystar Development East LLC to develop the plan that was submitted to White Plains and approved by its Common Council in April 2021.
“We think this is truly unparalleled in the market. We do think we’re developing something that’s different here, something that’s going to be unique,” Gary Kerr, managing director at Greystar, said. “We’re hopefully trying to raise the bar in White Plains. We think we want this to be the poster child for success in the city. This is a city that values growth and supports developers.”
White Plains Mayor Tom Roach said, “Getting the people to live here, our strategy was build the housing so that the people that people want to hire live in the city. It worked out very well for us and things are moving. We had a little period during Covid when construction shut down, but once it was okay for the construction to begin again it began in White Plains. Our building inspectors were back on the job. I heard in some communities they couldn’t get the building inspectors in to approve things. We kept things moving. We take it seriously. We also appreciate Greystar being here and the quality of the work they do.”
Westchester County Executive George Latimer pointed out that the county’s Industrial Development Agency provided financial incentives for the project. Among those were $5.3 million in sales tax exemptions and $1.6 million in mortgage recording tax exemptions.
”I have been in this county long enough to remember when there were tenements on these streets that existed from Mamaroneck Avenue down to the train station,” Latimer said. “Now with transit-oriented development, with a different economic model and that’s changing as we speak right now, this is a dynamic addition to the streetscape of White Plains.”