A park in downtown White Plains was dedicated Thursday afternoon, marking the opening of the site to the public and representing the finishing touch on a more than $1 billion development project.
Louis R. Cappelli was joined by city Mayor Thomas M. Roach, the Rev. Richard A. Kunz of the park”™s neighbor Grace Church, members of the Common Council and about 50 onlookers to celebrate the completion of what Cappelli called “the last piece of the puzzle” for his company’s Renaissance Square development.
- The new park on Main Street in White Plains.
The yet-to-be-named park on Main Street is nestled between the 900,000-sqaure-foot mixed-use development and the quaint Episcopal church that was constructed in 1865. The 10,000-square-foot property, the former site of the sales office for The Ritz-Carlton, Westchester hotel, features a small, lighted waterfall at the center and is surrounded by greenery and seating.
“It”™s the connecting piece between us, the new, and the church, the historic,” Cappelli said.
The park”™s completion, however, was met with challenges.
Cappelli said his firm, White Plains-based Cappelli Organization, signed on to create the park in 2009 ”“ the year that marked the end of the Great Recession and that left Cappelli reeling from lawsuits, health problems and debt.
The other hurdle he acknowledged was developing the park as a public-private venture; it is open to the public but maintained by The Ritz-Carlton, Westchester.
“Working with the city to try to partner to do a job like this is almost impossible, but it wasn”™t,” Cappelli said. “Old administration, new administration, everybody helped us to create what”™s here.”
Roach said the park “sends a message about this city about how active and vital our downtown is, and I think that”™s worthwhile.”
“Having built City Center and The Ritz, which is what I set out to do in 2003 starting with City Center, this is the, like I said, the last piece of the puzzle,” Cappelli said. “It feels good that my job is done.”
