Mamaroneck seeks consultant for industrial area facelift
The village of Mamaroneck is looking for a firm to conduct a real estate analysis of its industrial flats, with the long-term goal of rezoning and redeveloping the area.
The village board of trustees voted at its Oct. 27 meeting to issue a request for proposals to planning consultant firms for a real estate market analysis and redevelopment plan that would be due by the end of 2015. It has budgeted up to $46,500 for the work, which will be partially offset using a $6,500 grant from the state”™s Hudson River Valley Greenway program.
The industrial area is bound by Interstate 95 and the Sheldrake River on the north side and by the Metro-North New Haven Line tracks on the opposite side. The area is 65.4 acres, or 3.1 percent of all village land. There are 161 properties containing 134 structures within the area, but Mayor Norman Rosenblum said a change there would not be met with an outcry because there are only 17 residences in the neighborhood.
“There”™s little impact on residential,” he said. The 17 residential structures are nonconforming under current industrial zoning codes in the village, Rosenblum said.
The area is made up mostly of auto shops, parking lots and industrial properties. Combined, the properties pay $2.8 million annually in village taxes, not including taxes to the Mamaroneck public school district and the town of Mamaroneck. Rosenblum said allowing for other types of development would mean increased tax revenues for the village that are not coming from residents.
Mamaroneck has formed a volunteer Industrial Area Committee, which is tasked with working with the chosen consultant and fostering collaboration with the business owners in the area, many of which have called The Flats home for a number of years. Open forums and hearings will be conducted prior to an ultimate rezoning, according to the plan.
The village”™s 2012 comprehensive plan noted a decline in land uses in the industrial zone, as many large companies including Suburban Carting and Happiness Laundry moved out of the area. Many properties have been converted to parking lots for businesses in the area and for a nearby auto dealership. According to the village”™s request for proposals, 52.7 acres, or more than 80 percent of the total acreage, of the industrial area is made of impervious surfaces. In the flood-prone village of Mamaroneck, officials are hoping that an eventual redevelopment project would mean improved flood-mitigation construction. Ninety-six of the 134 buildings in the area are in the flood zone, according to Federal Emergency Management Agency maps.
Mamaroneck conducted a study of the area in 1997 but never rezoned. The request for proposals does not offer insight into what a potential facelift would look like but rather asks a consultant to use real estate market data to determine possible zoning uses (the mayor previously said strictly residential uses are not likely to be considered).
The mayor told the Business Journal he has received informal interest from a boutique hotel, a sports center and a boutique hotel for dogs.
“They claim that is more profitable than a hotel for people,” he said.
Rosenblum said existing industrial buildings would be “grandfathered in” to any new code, although owners would need to seek variances or special permits for any expansions or renovations. As a concession, the mayor said the rezoning would increase their property values.
“You have a zoning where it”™s conducive to those people to look for a different place, they could (get) enough value if they want to move somewhere else,” he said. “That”™s a continuous thing that”™s happening in Westchester.”
Responses from bidders are due to the village by Dec. 1.