J. Michael Divney witnessed the rebirth of downtown White Plains both as a resident and active participant in the renaissance.
A White Plains native, he was director of planning and engineering at the White Plains Redevelopment Agency before launching his own business in 1972.
“The key was that by creating an efficient and relatively pedestrian-oriented street system and good, solid infrastructure, the investment provided a platform for much better development than Westchester has seen in prior decades,” Divney said. “Parcels were set aside to permit the creativity of individual entrepreneurs to come in and build beautiful buildings and bring a 24-hour life to White Plains.”
He said the city is now “really on the map for elements that are world class.”
Divney”™s educational background was in engineering and land planning and following the period he spent launching the downtown redevelopment, he “wanted to go into business and do the same sort of thing for other communities and private builders.”
Associates Andrew Tung and Gerhard Schwalbe joined as partners in 1997.
Now 37-years-old, Divney Tung Schwalbe L.L.P. has planned land-use projects in more than 85 percent of municipalities in Westchester County.
“All the projects we work on are one thing today and someone would like them to be something else tomorrow or the day after tomorrow,” Tung said. “But that change takes a lot of forethought and thinking, and what we bring is a different way of looking at that challenge and different strengths in terms of technical skills.”
Tung comes from a background of landscape architecture and law.
Schwalbe is versed in civil engineering.
Divney is the expert in planning and urban design.
That collaborative chemistry has catapulted the company to a household name in the commercial development world.
They were just named The Business Council of Westchester”™s 2010 Hall of Fame winner for the Small Business Success Award.
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The partners have made it through the worst of seven recessions, Divney said, and “we”™re fortunate that clients continue to be loyal to us.”
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“We have families we”™ve worked for for 20 years that are in the real estate business, and yes there are cycles,” Divney said of economic hardships. “But, we have adjusted to the change in circumstances and we”™re all working harder. But we”™re also working smarter because we have technology tools we”™ve invested in.”
They have also witnessed a change in public awareness of green technologies.
“Certainly now, it”™s becoming a project that”™s sellable, whereas before it was kind of marginal,” Schwalbe said.
Divney said sustainable principles were always a part of the company”™s plans.
“We”™re aware that when we take on an assignment to plan a project, it”™s likely that the building or landscape or infrastructure is going to last 50 to 100 years, so you have to do it right the first time,” he said. “We”™ve come from that, ”˜when you put your hands on a project, remember, it”™s going to live long after you do.”™”
It”™s the belief that the sketches and write-ups that sit on their desks today represent community investments tomorrow which drives their work.
Divney recalled one particular project that at the time was not met with open arms.
“We had a corporate headquarters we were working on not too far from here and it was a foreign corporation,” Divney said. “There were some concerns in that community about the nature of this foreign company and it got down to one last meeting at midnight to get the project approved.”
A series of dialogues and compromises ensued and after the project was approved, “the client went forward and built the headquarters that is now considered the gem of the community.”
Divney Tung Schwalbe, he said, is “often at the front line trying to help the community understand the benefits (of development) and that the stakes are high; but we can see it and until it”™s built, most people can”™t.”
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He knows there is truth to this.
The modern city of White Plains he helped envision and bring to fruition stands now as a retail, hospitality and business epicenter of the Golden Apple.
