Luxury rentals proposed for former Harrison movie theater

The last movie that ran at the Harrison playhouse was “Bridget Jones”™s Diary.” The name of the movie, spelled out in block letters, remained on the black marquee for years after the theater closed in 2001.

“Bridget Jones”™s Diary” was still listed there in 2006 when Verco Properties LLC bought the building, which included the playhouse and space for four retail stores.

By then the theater had been mostly gutted, its 500 seats on the floor and balcony removed by the previous owner. For many residents, the theater served as a symbol of the town”™s downtown development ”” frozen in time while its neighbors Rye and Mamaroneck moved forward.

Verco is now proposing an adaptive reuse of the old theater that would build 42 luxury rental units above the retail space on the ground level. John Verni, co-managing partner of Verco, said Harrison”™s downtown will soon be an attractive option for millennials looking to live in walkable communities with access to a New York City commuter rail line.

“The time is right for downtown Harrison,” he said. “We think it”™s perfectly positioned to be the next big place.”

The theater is in the center of the downtown on 221 Harrison Ave., near the Halstead Avenue intersection and around the corner from the Metro-North station. Last month, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the town and developer AvalonBay Communities Inc. entered into a joint development agreement that will transform the train station parking lot on Halstead Avenue into a new town center, complete with 143 residential units and 27,000 square-feet of retail space.

That project has been in discussion for more than a decade and languished like many other development plans during the economic downturn. Mayor Ron Belmont, a Republican, touted the train station project as a spark that will lead to revitalizing the downtown, which has seen empty storefronts and a lack of foot traffic compared to some of the destination downtowns of its neighboring communities.

“I look forward to seeing Harrison become an even better place to live,” Belmont said.

Verni and his brother Chris Verni said they saw the potential of the train station property before they purchased it. Their parents, Vito and Mary, live in the town, Chris Verni said.

“As Westchester residents, John and I love doing projects that renew old assets in our downtowns,” he said. Verco recently redeveloped the old Mamaroneck train station into Club Car restaurant (the old ticket booths now house beer taps). They also developed office space on the second floor of that building, and Verco moved its offices from Woodlawn into that space upon completion of the project.

The Harrison playhouse project, which will be designed by Dobbs Ferry architect Stephen Tilly, will include tear-down work as opposed to the retrofitted spaces in Mamaroneck. The movie theater first opened in 1927 and was renovated in the 1970s, but it never contained the ornate design work or classic cinema architecture of some of its contemporaries. In the 1980s, a theatergoer nearly fell through the bathroom floor, resulting in the theater being temporarily shut down by the town building inspector.

The redevelopment, if approved, will include a screening room and a new fa̤ade that evokes the theaterӪs history. It will include terraces, a fitness center and on-site parking and resident access from Purdy Street, on a property Verco bought in 2009 that abuts the theater property.

The Vernis presented their concept to the town Planning Board last month and will need a special exception permit for residential uses above first-floor, nonresidential uses. Although the adaptive reuse was recommended in the town”™s 2013 master plan, the theater and several other development projects come with density and traffic concerns. Harrison and Halstead avenues are narrow roadways with only one lane of traffic in each direction, and the main intersection near the station is often congested during the day, town Councilman Joseph Cannella, a Republican, said.

“Harrison isn”™t White Plains ”” we don”™t have a Broadway, we don”™t have a Main Street, we don”™t have the four-lane roads,” he said. The town, based on its infrastructure, will have to take a more conservative approach to building out, even more conservative than other towns or small villages in Westchester, he said.

The central business district includes businesses without their own designated parking, and retail and commercial buildings on the main drag back up to residential homes in the corridor. Parking and density concerns need to be looked at closely, Cannella said. Several other development projects in the downtown are in varying degrees of gestation, including a redevelopment of the former Emilio restaurant near the movie theater and a residential proposal for the former Port Chester Lumberyard site on Halstead, just outside of the main business district.