White Plains Hospital buys 77 W. Post Road site for $38 million

White Plains Hospital has bought the approximately 4-acre parcel at 77 W. Post Road where a $160 million mixed-use development had been planned.

Real estate services firm CBRE announced Wednesday morning that the hospital, a member of the Montefiore Health System, bought the property from Grid Properties and Gotham Organization Inc. The purchase price was $38 million, according to CBRE.

The site had been cleared in anticipation of a mixed-use development project getting underway after having been approved about five years ago.

“The offering represented a highly unique opportunity to buy a 4-plus acre site, representing nearly an entire city block in the heart of downtown White Plains with exceptional proximity to Scarsdale,” said Jeff Dunne, vice chairman of CBRE.

The site formerly was home to the Sholz Auto Group dealerships, which handled General Motors vehicles including Buick and Oldsmobile. Real estate developer Grid Properties, operating as Post Maple 77 LLC, which has an office in New York City, had acquired the property and proposed an upscale shopping mall that also would include a fitness center.

The development site is bounded by Maple Avenue, West Post Road, South Lexington Avenue and Rathbun Avenue. Part of the thinking at the time was that the location on the western side of White Plains near the Scarsdale border would prove to be attractive to upscale shoppers as was The Westchester mall”™s location on the east side of town.

The city of White Plains, however, wanted to see a residential component added to the project. At the city”™s behest, Grid reworked the project”™s design and added a dozen townhome units.

Grid”™s project would have totaled about 230,000 square feet. There would have been a 720-space self-park garage with an additional 82 spaces for valet parking and 91 satellite and joint-use spaces.

Grid”™s site plan for the project received approval from the White Plains Common Council on Nov. 7, 2016, and the approval subsequently was extended. On Feb. 1 of this year, the Common Council again extended approvals of Grid”™s project.

Staff writer Peter Katz contributed to this report.