The three-building 303-unit apartment complex that was built on an approximately 20-acre section of the RPW Group’s office park at 1133 Westchester Ave. in White Plains by RPW and Cleveland-based The NRP Group was officially opened on July 11. Jonathan Gertman, senior vice president of development for NRP, said that the complex already is approximately 50% leased.
The Halden features a mix of 178 one-bedroom apartments, 115 two-bedroom and 10 three-bedroom apartments. Nineteen of the units are priced in the affordable category for people making 60% of the Westchester Area Median Income. The office park encompasses approximately 70 acres and had excess parking spaces available, taking care of the 523 spaces the apartment complex was required to have under White Plains zoning.
Amenities at The Halden include a club room with space for dining, a fitness center, an outdoor pool, a conference room, a children’s playroom, a bike storage room, a cafe and lounge, a package concierge, and a courtyard with grilling stations. The apartments feature quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances, washers and dryers and other high-end design features. The Halden notes that it is pet friendly.
Internet apartment listing sites show that The Halden offers units ranging in size from 630 square feet to 1,842 square feet at monthly rents from $2,845 to $5,710.
At the opening day ceremony, Gertman expressed what he termed “deep pride and satisfaction” with the way the construction went. He also recalled that the Covid pandemic impacted the construction timeline for The Halden when New York state imposed restrictions on various business activities.
“We worked socially distanced, we had supply chain issues,” Gertman said. “We had a 400% spike in lumber costs. In the end, that is not going to be the story of The Halden. To me, the indelible takeaway of this project is working together to do something significant and worthy under challenging circumstances.”
Gertman said that when the city created an overlay zone to allow new uses at office park sites, it laid the groundwork for the project. He also said that the support of the Westchester County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) was vital to making the project happen.
White Plains Mayor Tom Roach said that years ago city leaders saw an issue developing with corporate parks along I-287 and in other parts of the country and that more flexibility was called for in deciding what could and could not be done at those properties.
“That’s when the overlay came up, that’s when it was put in place, and this is a great example of what we had in mind,” Roach said. “When you see how bustling this 1133 is, how active it is, how successful it is — a lot of that comes from putting money into your properties and having a quality product, which is Robert Weisz’s trademark and then Andrew (Weisz) comes in … and oversees this and it comes out so well.”
Roach said he foresees people living at The Halden who will walk across the parking lot to their jobs in the 1133 office building.
Westchester County’s Director of Economic Development Bridget Gibbons said that the IDA was happy to have been able to support the project “that is bringing much-needed housing to the I-287 corridor. This project is part of an emerging trend that has been transforming vacant office parks into new uses such as Wegmans, Life Time Fitness, and other uses. These important developments are creating jobs and adding economic vibrancy to Westchester County.”
Andrew Weisz, president of the RPW Group, said, “This was grassland, part of a parking lot, and now we stand here three years later: 303 units that is thriving and I think we’ve created something quite unique here — one of the first true suburban live/work environments in the county and in the region. I’m particularly proud of that.”
Weisz noted that the RPW Group has owned 1133 Westchester Ave. for about 20 years and in 2008 proposed building a hotel at the site.
“We could really never get something done here for one reason: we couldn’t find the right partnership,” Weisz said. He added that when they met The NRP Group “we felt incredibly comfortable with their knowledge, their expertise and, most importantly, with their reputation.”
