The hallways once tread by DeWitt and Lila Bell Wallace as they oversaw editors abridging best-selling novels and stories for Reader”™s Digest, could soon be remade into a supermarket and retail stores.
Summit/Greenfield, the developer of Chappaqua Crossing, is seeking approval from the New Castle Town Board for a proposal to build 120,000 square feet of retail space, including a full-service grocery. The retail aspect would replace an equal amount of existing office space on the site. A public hearing will be held on the zoning change Oct. 30.
Chappaqua has been without a grocery store since D”™Agostino on King Street closed its doors shortly after Hurricane Irene. The store is being replaced by a Walgreens, forcing Chappaqua residents to travel to Mount Kisco or Millwood to do their grocery shopping.
While it did not give specifics, Summit/Greenfield said it has strong interest from several supermarket chains. The developer, a partnership of Summit Development L.L.C. and Greenfield Partners L.L.C., real estate services and investment companies based in South Norwalk, Conn., said a market and retail component could generate $650,000 in property tax revenue bringing the total real estate taxes from the site in excess of $3 million.
Barton Partners Architects has designed the proposed changes to the existing buildings to blend with the Neo-Georgian brick of the original Reader”™s Digest building. Retail, which would be located at the southern end of the property, will have a complementary architectural style.
The retail center would have 600 parking spaces. Existing parking for the office building that would be used for the retail development would be placed elsewhere on the site to maintain the required 1,680 spaces for the offices.
The balance of the office building would continue for office use. Currently Northern Westchester Hospital, Mount Kisco Medical Group, Fiber Media and WeeZee Sensory Gym are tenants.
Summit/Greenfield bought the 114-acre property for $59 million from Reader”™s Digest Association in December 2004. It had initially proposed building 348 units of age-restricted condominiums and townhouses. The town eventually approved 111 units of housing, 20 of which are affordable.
Summit/Greenfield had previously sued the town in state and federal court over the town”™s handling of the Chappaqua Crossing site, claiming that the town”™s conduct deprived Summit/Greenfield of making the property economically viable.
The suit in state court was recently dismissed, while a federal lawsuit is still pending and in the discovery phrase.
New Castle Councilman Jason Chapin said that the town is trying to enhance its commercial tax base and bring a grocery store to the east side of town. Chapin said that a standalone supermarket would not be successful, making retail necessary. He said this would broaden the tax base, while creating jobs.
“This requires a process and we will follow that process,” Chapin said, referring to approvals by the planning, zoning and architectural review boards. “We would not pursue it if we thought it would be detrimental to Millwood and Chappaqua.”
Many residents are opposed to the rezoning, while the Planning Board expressed skepticism at its Oct. 2 meeting. Robert Greenstein, president of the Millwood/Chappaqua Chamber of Commerce and a vocal opponent of the project, called the town”™s plans shortsighted and that it would create a third business hamlet.
“People need to understand the size of this project,” Greenstein said. “It could have a negative impact on our historic downtown business district. Creating this third retail district needs to be studied very carefully.”
