Mount Vernon ready for rebirth

With a changing Mount Vernon city government next year, plans for redevelopment of the city”™s downtown are in flux.

Mayor-elect Clinton Young said he would likely not pursue any of the plans submitted in July from three developers by outgoing Mayor Ernest Davis.

Davis had solicited proposals to remake the downtown area near the Mount Vernon East Metro-North Railroad station with residential, retail and commercial space, along with a possible hotel and convention center, which had been talked about for many years.

In July, three developers, Leyland Alliance L.L.C., Mountco Development Corp. and Mount Vernon Renaissance L.L.C. submitted proposals to redevelop the site.

Young said at this stage he had no exact plans for the site, but that he might pursue a project on a smaller scale than the ones”™ Davis embraced, with a hotel probably not part of the plan.

Business owners and advocates in the city think it”™s time for Mount Vernon to catch up with cities such as New Rochelle and Yonkers in terms of downtown redevelopment and adaptive reuse of buildings.

Martin Rego, president of the King Organization, a printing company on South Fourth Avenue, agreed with the mayor-elect that a less sprawling development project is needed for downtown.

“The previous mayor had a very grandiose vision, and I think something more focused in scope would work best and be most easily attainable,” said Rego, who also serves as chairman of the board for the Mount Vernon Chamber of Commerce.

One thing that can”™t be disputed, said Rego, is the need to reinvigorate Mount Vernon”™s downtown. That could include building more market-rate or even luxury housing in the area.

“We need to foster the further renaissance of downtown, at the same time taking care of the people already there,” he said.

Rego, echoing the comments of many others, said Mount Vernon should have no problem attracting development and potential residents downtown, due to its proximity to rail service and Manhattan.

One thing that needs to change to foster development, he said, is to update Mount Vernon”™s master plan, which has not been done since the early 1960s. The city”™s zoning laws place severe building restrictions on height and density.

“That was relevant in 1962, but not anymore,” he said. “Back then we had land, now we don”™t have land left. Developers need to go vertical.”

Young agrees and said that drafting a new master plan was a priority.

Peter F. Gaito, of the architectural firm Peter F. Gaito & Associates, has built and has plans to build several market-rate condo projects in Mount Vernon.

“It wouldn”™t hurt to have a redrafted zoning plan,” Gaito said.

However, he doesn”™t see that as a big hindrance to development, though it would likely make it easier for the city to attract more developers.

Regardless, Gaito believes the city can accommodate market-rate housing since it is an ideal location for both young professionals and baby boomers.

“You”™re getting a lot of very bright people who want to stay (in Westchester) who are leaving, and one way to get them to stay is to provide them with quality, market-rate housing,” he said.

Gerrie Post, president of the chamber of commerce, said her group is looking forward to working with Young on drafting a new master plan.

Post said an office or commercial park would make the most sense for the development in the area around the train station.

If the city were to pursue a hotel and conference center again in the future, it should be on Sandford Boulevard and incorporate existing sports venues such as Memorial Field.

She said office, commercial and residential buildings are zoned to go up to 25 stories in the downtown area, another reason to promote that kind of use for the area.

However, the key to the successful redevelopment of this location is “to create the infrastructure, which is necessary, and is the costliest part of a construction project around and over the railroad,” she said. “If the infrastructure is provided for monetarily, the development community and the end-users will come.”