Details emerge on United Hospital redevelopment 

Documents obtained by the Business Journal provide details of what might be included in the redevelopment of the United Hospital site in Port Chester, while the public unveiling of a plan proposal from the site’s new developer still is awaited.

In documents prepared for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), developer BR RA Port Chester LLC states that final plans are in development. As a result, the number of residential units, hotel rooms, assisted/senior living units, available retail space, office space and parking square footages are subject to change.

It says that it proposes to demolish the existing structures and redevelop the site with a mix of uses, including:

• 730 residential apartments;
• 180 assisted and senior living units;
• A 160-room hotel;
• 30,000 square feet of retail space;
• 10,000 square feet of flex office space; and
• Associated parking lots.

The site covers 12.03 acres with a street address of 406 Boston Post Road. The developer says that the site is zoned for more more than 1 million square feet of development.

There are a number of abandoned structures associated with the former New York United Hospital Medical Center. There also are former parking lots, private roadways and areas with vegetation. The abandoned and deteriorating structures include the main hospital building, a six-story office building, two-door garage, boiler plant, and laundry room.

It’s believed the first hospital activities on the site were as early as 1915. United Hospital’s operations stopped in 2004.

Environmental studies of the site had previously been done in connection with plans by former owner Starwood Capital Group to create a $450 million mixed-use community with housing, retail and other features. In 2013, Starwood had two 25,000-gallon underground heating oil tanks and an above-ground 2,000-gallon diesel fuel oil tank removed from the site. Contaminated soil also was removed.

New studies by BR RA’s consultant AKRF Inc. led to the submission of an application for the DEC’s Brownfield Cleanup Program. The presence of various pollutants such as petroleum on the site were confirmed in previous studies, and the May 2020 report by AKRF also noted the presence of the semi-volatile organic compounds arsenic, barium, lead, silver and mercury.

The developer’s brownfield application suggests that it might obtain site plan approval from the Village of Port Chester by August 2021, and that construction could begin in September 2021.

The developer said it would submit a remedial action work plan (RAWP) for the DEC to review and approve.

After obtaining appropriate permits from Port Chester, demolition of the on-site structures will be completed, followed by investigation and/or remediation in accordance with an approved RAWP.

The “BR” in BR RA Port Chester LLC represents BedRock Real Estate Partners, while the “RA” refers to Rose Associates. Amy Rose, co-president and CEO of Rose Associates, and Chuck Berman, CEO of BedRock, both attended a Nov. 4 meeting of Port Chester’s Board of Trustees.

Rose said, “We”™re a 98-year-old family firm based in New York City. We”™re a women-owned minority business. I”™m pleased to let you all know that we are extremely excited about our participation in this project.”

The company was started in 1925, has 14,000 residential units under management and counts more than 60 properties in its portfolio. It had valued the properties it developed from 2014 through 2019 at $2.4 billion.

Berman told the board of trustees, “I”™ve been developing apartments and mixed-use developments across the United States for the last 35 years under various names. I was the founder of Avalon and Avalon Bay Communities. I ran the northeast for Trammell Crow. We think this is a terrific opportunity for us. We view it as a gateway site coming into the village.”