United Hospital site plan enters public review process

The site of the former United Hospital in Port Chester is one step closer to becoming a long-awaited $300 million mixed-use development.

Port Chester’s board of trustees this week voted to accept the draft environmental impact statement for the project, pushing it into the public review phase. Residents will be able to ask questions and comment on the project at a hearing to be scheduled in the coming weeks.

Plans for the site at 406 Boston Post Road ”“ purchased by Starwood Capital Group in 2006 ”“ include 90,000 square feet of street-level shops and restaurants, a 135-room hotel, 217,000 square feet of office space, 500 residential units for young professionals and 230 age-restricted senior residential units. It will have on-site parking and nearly an acre of open space.

In a statement, Starwood Capital Executive Vice President Ellis Rinaldi thanked Mayor Dennis Pilla and the board of trustees and said the company would use the development to complement the village’s “vibrant” downtown. The site is across from the Port Chester Shopping Center near interstates 287 and 95.

“We appreciate the tremendous support our plan has received from Port Chester residents, public officials and the business community, and we look forward to a continued constructive dialogue throughout the review process,” Rinaldi said in a statement. “This is a historic opportunity for the village, and we are committed to helping Port Chester seize it.”

Starwood Capital estimated the development would create more than 1,800 construction jobs and nearly 1,000 permanent jobs. After declaring for bankruptcy, United Hospital closed in 2005, and Starwood Capital purchased the site the following year for $28 million. The board of trustees voted in March 2013 to adopt zoning changes that would make a mixed-use development on the 15.4-acre site possible. Starwood Capital first presented a draft environmental impact statement to Port Chester officials in spring 2014.

Headquartered in Greenwich, Starwood Capital, the real estate investment firm, has 12 offices in six countries and manages more than $44 billion in assets.