Developer Louis R. Cappelli, no stranger to public controversy, last week described his company”™s latest building project in downtown White Plains as “controversial.” As controversial as contemporary art, that is.
The city”™s Common Council for the most part didn”™t agree with his description. Some council members and city residents did worry that the developer might have received preferential treatment from city officials when moving quickly on his 189 Main St. project.
The head of Cappelli Enterprises Inc. appeared before the Common Council to have his partially erected building at Court and Main streets included in the site plan for his company”™s adjacent construction project at 221 Main St., the Ritz-Carlton hotel and residential towers. That would allow him to build on the entire 4,689-square-foot footprint of the former building at 189 Main St. and override a zoning restriction that limited construction to 80 percent of the site.
The council unanimously approved the change. The developer already had a building permit to begin construction on four-fifths of the existing footprint.
Designed to visually complement the Ritz-Carlton project, the one-story glass building will include a cellar café, rooftop dining and possibly an art gallery on the main floor. Cappelli described it as an example of a current architectural trend in “stand-alone glass boxes,” inspired by, among others, architect I.M. Pei”™s glass pyramid at the Louvre in Paris.
“These glass boxes are not supposed to represent anything,” Cappelli said at the public hearing, “and they”™re supposed to be somewhat controversial. Because it”™s art. Art is controversial.”
Most Common Council members thought it beautiful instead.
“Many wonderful things come in small packages and I think this is one of them,” Common Council President Rita Malmud said.
She criticized the city”™s approval process for the project, however, as “clumsy.” She and others said the speed with which construction was approved gave the impression that the developer was treated more favorably than residents applying for building permits.
“The project to me is a small project, a nice project, and it”™s not something to be delayed by technical points,” Councilman Thomas Roach said. “I agree it”™s a worthy addition to our downtown.”
“As architecture, it”™s unique,” Councilman Glen Hockley said. “It”™s going to be like a jewel on the ring of the Ritz ”“ a destination point.”
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