During a work session of the Yorktown Town Board, developer Toll Brothers unveiled a proposal to build 136 townhomes for active adults age 55 and up on part of the Field Home property off Catherine Street in the town.
Toll Brothers has a contract to buy the property for which the development is proposed.
The town had previously approved the site for the development of 108 independent-living units, a 96-unit skilled nursing home and offices. The nursing home portion of the project was developed, but the rest of it was not.
”™”Toll Brothers is in the due diligence phase of this proposal and wanted to discuss the development concept with you and wants to get your feedback before putting the final pen to paper,” attorney David Cooper of the White Plains-based law firm Zarin & Steinmetz told the Yorktown Town Board. “We do envision needing to rezone the site.”
Cooper said that what Toll Brothers would like to see built on the site is less dense than what could be built there.
“Toll Brothers has been interested in bringing a high-quality residential product to Yorktown for a number of years and is presented with this site and believes it presents an excellent opportunity for a new age-oriented community,” Cooper said.
The property contains the former Catherine Field Home, originally founded by an Episcopal nun in 1887 as a home for older women. Although in need of repairs, the building is used by local nonprofits. Toll Brothers said it would preserve the facade and front third of the structure, as it agreed to in the previous development proposal.
Jack Lannamann, a senior vice president of Toll Brothers, explained, “We”™ve been in business since 1967. We operate in 24 states so we”™re nationwide and for four years in a row we have been ranked the number-one home builder in the world by Fortune magazine on their ‘World”™s Most Admired Companies’ list.”
Lannamann said that in 2020 the company had revenues of almost $7 billion. He said that the company has built more than 3,000 single-family, townhouse and condo units in the New York market.
“Our New York City operations are separate from our suburban operations,” Lannamann said. “We operate locally out of Danbury, Connecticut, where our Connecticut and New York office has about 80 employees.”
Yorktown Councilwoman Alice Roker said she had been following the Toll Brothers project in Sleepy Hollow “and I got really jealous.”
Town Supervisor Matt Slater said that Roker had been sending him news articles about what Toll Brothers was doing elsewhere in Westchester County.
“We appreciate your presentation,” Slater said to the Toll Brothers representatives. “Obviously we would welcome to hear more about what your vision is for the project. Toll Brothers has a very good reputation so I think the town should be very proud that Toll Brothers is looking to do something in the Town of Yorktown, but obviously we”™re going to take the correct steps in the process and make sure that everything is done in accordance with all the requirements. We look forward to hopefully hear from you on those next steps.”
