One of the largest mixed-use developments planned in Westchester County since the recession, Rivertowns Square, is wrapped in mystery after its sponsor suddenly called a halt to an environmental review of the $150 million project by village officials in Dobbs Ferry.
Principals of Saber Real Estate Advisors L.L.C. in Armonk, the sponsor and investment manager of a private-equity real estate fund, since early 2011 have met frequently with Dobbs Ferry officials and residents to gain approval of their proposal to redevelop the former Akzo Nobel Chemicals Inc. campus for luxury apartments, retail shops and restaurants, a gourmet grocery store, a cinema complex and a hotel. The approximately 17-acre site adjoins Chauncey Square Shopping Center near the intersection of Saw Mill River Parkway and Lawrence Street.
The project had sparked opposition and concerns about traffic congestion and safety and other issues among residents, led by members of the Rivertowns Preservation Civic Association.
On July 26, Dobbs Ferry Mayor Hartley Connett in a brief public notice announced the suspension of the state environmental quality review process for the project. Village trustees for several weeks have been reviewing a draft environmental impact statement from the developer before issuing their findings on the project”™s impact and scheduling public hearings.
Connett said the suspension was requested by the developer. He indicated village officials were not given a reason for the request and were awaiting more information from Saber.
Martin G. Berger, managing principal of Saber Real Estate Advisors, on July 30 told the Business Journal he could not comment on the suspension “at this time, but hope to be able to soon.”
In late June, Berger indicated the $150 million project was on track in a presentation at the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors office in White Plains. “We”™re about two and a half million (dollars) into it,” he told an audience at a meeting of the Realtors”™ commercial investment division. “That means we”™re at the beginning.”
Berger said the developer hoped to complete a final environmental impact statement this month and begin demolition of buildings on the former chemical manufacturing site by the end of this year. He said he hoped to have tenants occupying spaces by early 2014.
Berger said the commercial complex would include approximately 130,000 square feet of retail and entertainment space. In response to local concerns about traffic flow, he said, plans for a grocery store on the site were scaled back from a 55,000-square-foot to 75,000-square-foot anchor supermarket to an 18,000-square-foot gourmet market. Retail shops would be sized at about 3,000 square feet and restaurants at about 6,600 square feet, he said.
The developer earlier this year said that retail leasing was being handled exclusively by Robert Greenstone, chairman and CEO of Robert Greenstone Realty Corp. in Manhattan.
Berger told the Realtors group that Lincoln Property Co. of Boston would develop the project”™s 200-unit luxury rental residence, according to Real Estate In-Depth, the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors publication. He reportedly said that Saber was close to reaching a deal with Hilton Hotels and Resorts to acquire a Rivertowns Square parcel as the site of a 123-room extended stay hotel.
In March, Saber and Los Angeles-based Sundance Cinemas L.L.C. announced that Sundance would open an eight-theater, 32,500-square-foot complex at Rivertowns Square, the company”™s first East Coast venture. “Westchester County has a long and rich tradition of supporting the arts, which makes me particularly enthusiastic about our future in this terrific community,” actor and filmmaker Robert Redford, president of Sundance Group, said in the announcement.
Based in Chicago, Akzo Nobel Chemicals Inc. in 2010 sold its Dobbs Ferry campus for $5,125,000 to Dobbs Ferry Capital Partners L.L.C. in White Plains.
Berger and his partner in Armonk, Matthew Klinger, manage Saber Real Estate Capital Partners I L.P., a private equity fund that targets distressed and undervalued commercial properties for investment. Before turning its sights on Westchester, Saber primarily focused on Florida properties.
