A New York City developer is looking to demolish a downtown New Rochelle machinery warehouse and turn the space into a transit-oriented residential community for millennials.
Anup K. Misra, founder and CEO of East & Hudson New Rochelle LLC, plans to develop 165 Huguenot St. ”” a five-minute walk from the Metro-North station ”” into a 64,000-square-foot, 71-apartment, six-story building targeting the millennial submarket of those born between the early 1980s and mid-1990s.
Plans include 24 studio apartments, 31 one-bedroom apartments and 11 two-bedrooms on the second to sixth floors. All will be offered as rental units and range from 500 to approximately 975 square feet.
The site is at the northeast corner of Huguenot Street and Valley Place across from the New Roc City shopping center in the shadow of Trump Plaza. East & Hudson has marketed it as a desirable location for young professionals because of its proximity to rail, retail, restaurants and entertainment.
Misra”™s plans designate 3,000 square feet of the first floor for commercial and amenity space including a gym, community room and laundry room. An outdoor terrace is also planned for recreational activities. Approximately 16 parking spots are planned on the 0.36-acre site, with overflow set to use the existing spaces in the New Roc City parking garage.
New Rochelle”™s planning board unanimously approved the site plan at its Sept. 29 meeting.
- 165 Huguenot St. in New Rochelle
Misra, who has not yet closed on a sale of the property, said prior to the Sept. 29 planning board meeting he did not want to discuss his company”™s plans until board approval. Neither he nor East & Hudson co-founder Stanley Conway could be reached for comment Sept. 30.
The cost of the project was not available.
Lloyd Machinery Ltd., an industrial machine and equipment company, operates in the space targeted for the project. A representative from the company did not specify when the company would vacate the property.
The current 18,000-square-foot brick building is in a mixed-use zoning district that allows for approximately 63,000 square feet of buildable space. It currently has 11,700 square feet of two-story office space and 6,300 square feet of single-story warehouse space with three loading bays.
East & Hudson plans to demolish the building and build from the ground up.
During the planning board meeting, Misra said he hoped to close on the property by December and begin construction by the end of April or early May. He anticipated a construction schedule of between 15 and 16 months, but said that could be extended by a month depending on the outcome of the demolition.
“We know we have to demolish a building, so we don”™t know what we”™re going to find in there,” Misra told the board.
According to New York Department of State records, East & Hudson filed as a limited liability company in February. Conway, the other co-founder, is a real estate broker and consultant and founder of Manhattan-based Conway Towne.
Misra previously served as a senior vice president with Atlanta developer Wood Partners and as the director of development for Kentucky-based assisted living and retirement company Atria Senior Living Group
On its website, East & Hudson states its main focus is tristate transit-oriented rental apartment communities within 60 minutes of Manhattan”™s Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station. Its target renters are “urbanized, white-collar, technology-dependent young professionals.”
White Plains-based law firm DelBello Donnellan Weingarten Wise & Wiederkehr LLP is representing East & Hudson.
The developer”™s architect is Manhattan-based Magnusson Architecture and Planning PC.
Manhattan-based Massey Knakal Realty Services, the sale agent for the property, listed the property for $3 million. Bill Eisenhut, the company”™s director of sales, said he could not comment on the location because it is still under contract, but said he hoped the property will close “in the near future.”
In August, the city of New Rochelle unveiled a recommended action plan for the largest mixed-use redevelopment project in the city”™s history. The plan calls for a mix of housing, retail, commercial, office, hotel and community space throughout the city. Construction on that project is expected to begin between mid-2016 and late 2017.
