Five White Plains neighborhood associations have come out against a proposal by Senlac Ridge Partners of Morristown, New Jersey, to tear down an office building at 701 Westchester Ave. and put up a 5-story, 360-unit apartment building.
The North Street, Gedney Farms, Rosedale, Haviland Manor and Old Oak Ridge associations that are opposing the proposal cover about 1,600 homes.
Senlac owns the office park at 701-777 Westchester Ave. and is asking the city to apply the Planned Campus Development Overlay zone to its 54.8-acre property. It has submitted a master plan along with its zoning application but would need to file a site plan application and receive site plan approval should use of the overlay zone be approved.
The proposed building would include 21 studio apartments, 177 one-bedroom units and 162 two-bedroom units. Amenities would include a fitness center for residents, a business center, library and lounge spaces.
Hearings on the proposal at which the public could speak were held at the White Plains Common Council”™s June 7 and July 6 meetings. Seth Mandelbaum of the White Plains-based law firm McCullough, Goldberger & Staudt LLP, represented Senlac and said the property “can fully support this project. The project is proposed in essentially the same location as the existing underutilized, outdated 701 office building.”
Mandelbaum said that the closest home would be about 450 feet away from the apartment building, which he described as being “about a football field and a half away.”
Michael Romita, president and CEO of The Westchester County Association, spoke in favor of the proposal.
“There is a continuing need to reposition outdated, increasingly obsolete commercial offices throughout the county,” Romita said. He pointed to data provided by real estate services firm CBRE that shows the availability of office space in the submarket that includes the Westchester Avenue location currently stands at 22%.
“Last year, during the pandemic, leasing activity that comprises new and renewed leases, fell off the cliff and absorption plunged,” Romita said. “But that”™s not just the pandemic alone. It”™s the acceleration and continuation of a multiyear trend. There simply is a continuing decline and the demand for commercial office space continues to erode.”
Romita said that new development other than offices is needed along the Westchester Avenue and I-287 corridor to replace underutilized buildings and help preserve the tax base without overburdening surrounding neighborhoods or the existing infrastructure.
Romita discounted the notion that property owners would deliberately empty out their office parks in order to build apartment complexes or retail centers.
“That would be incredibly speculative and risky. Developers generally want the path of least resistance to profitability,” Romita said. “It would be much simpler and more profitable for a developer to simply lease-up the asset in its current form if that was possible, but that is simply not what”™s happening in the current market and doesn”™t reflect reality.”
Alex Roithmayr, a White Plains resident, spoke on behalf of The Building & Realty Institute of Westchester and the Mid-Hudson Region where he is a senior research associate.
He stated that while Senlac is not a member of BRI, the organization supports the project and moving ahead with it would be compatible with the goals of BRI”™s newly launched Welcome to Westchester effort that is designed to help address the county”™s housing needs.
Roithmayr described the proposal as “exactly the type of low-hanging fruit that can help us make progress in meeting our housing needs particularly since the proposal will be fully compliant with the White Plains city affordable housing set-aside requirement.”
Meadowbrook Road resident Don Buchwald urged the council to turn down the zoning request in order to allow residents”™ views to be heard during a recently started process of updating the city”™s Comprehensive Plan. The updating process is expected to take about two years.
“No one knows now if there will be renewed interest in suburban office space,” Buchwald said. “Many companies and Westchester residents alike have grown to realize that the daily commute into Manhattan isn”™t really necessary at all. A ”˜no”™ vote will maintain the status quo while our residents”™ views about the future of White Plains are considered and the actualities of post-pandemic life are assessed.”
Ethan Silverman, a Colonial Road resident, said, “I know that owners, not renters, are the citizens deeply committed to the long-term success of our White Plains community.” He expressed concerns that there may not be a strong enough market to absorb the apartments already being built in the city”™s downtown and at other locations along Westchester Avenue.
Mark Shapiro, another Colonial Road resident, suggested that apartment dwellers at the 701 Westchester Ave. site would have to use their cars to go downtown and the Senlac development would result in a substantial increase in traffic. He also said that he found the developer”™s prediction that the project would result in adding only 37 new students to the White Plains school system as “completely implausible.”
Laura Kavanagh, a Meadowbrook Road resident, said, “If this goes through, our street, Meadowbrook, will definitely become a cut-through street for new residents … for delivery drivers and people just looking for a shortcut.”
Bob Friscia, president of the North Street Association, said that when proposals such as Senlac”™s are being reviewed by the city”™s boards and commissions, developers are not asked such basic questions as “why ”” why the need; who ”” who will move into these projects, we don”™t even know, they never discuss who is going to move into these projects, who they”™re going to attract; how ”” how much is the cost for the average homeowner or renter to buy or rent these projects; and, what ”” how does White Plains benefit in return from these developments?”
Friscia said that new development should be concentrated in the city”™s downtown.
“Our city needs to be developed in the interior downtown and bring life back to the city, not on the outskirts of 287,” Friscia said. “We need a visionary plan for White Plains that the residents can embrace for a brighter future.”
The Common Council possibly could vote on whether to approve use of the overlay zone for Senlac”™s property at its August meeting.
