Stamford firm proposes to replace downtown White Plains retail building with apartments

A 134-unit six-story apartment building is being proposed to be built at 51 S. Broadway in White Plains. It would replace the one-story retail structure dating from about 1957 that  stands on the 1-acre site.

Parking for the apartments would be in a two-level underground garage. As the Business Journal reported on Sept. 13 would be happening, the city”™s Common Council began the review process for the proposal by referring the site plan and related documents to various boards and commissions for review. Mayor Tom Roach emphasized that the council was not at that time passing judgment on the proposal itself.

The developer is RMS Cos., which is headquartered in Stamford. The current owner of the site at 51 S. Broadway is Post-Broadway Associates LLC, c/o A&R Minskoff.

The approximately 30,000-square-foot building has been home to a variety of retailers in the past. One of the last major tenants was the White Plains outlet of Frozen Ropes, a chain of baseball and softball training centers. The space has remained vacant since Frozen Ropes moved out several years ago.

Attorney Neil Alexander of the White Plans-based law firm Cuddy & Feder told the council that the building would be 85 feet tall, within zoning criteria for the area. He emphasized that the proposed building would be compatible with other projects planned for the area, including Lennar’s nearby apartment development The Mitchell.

The area in which the proposed development site is located, where South Broadway meets East Post Road, was known for decades a prime retailing location for clothiers and sporting goods as well as bars, restaurants and Liebert”™s Royal Green Appliances.

A medical marijuana dispensary has been operating diagonally across from the site. Development projects that have been in the works near 51 S. Broadway include Lennar”™s mixed-use project on the site of the former Westchester Pavilion shopping mall and Arthouse WP Development”™s conversion of The Esplanade senior living facility and office building into 212 apartments.

RMS shows 30 properties in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York in its portfolio. Examples include: Mayfair Square, a townhome community in Danbury; Simeon Village, rental apartments in Bethel; The Verano, The Moderne, The Blvd and 100 Prospect, luxury rental apartments in Stamford; and The Phoenix on Isaac, a condominium development in Norwalk.

The company”™s first Westchester development was a 74-unit apartment building at 1077 Warburton Ave. in Yonkers known as Stratus on Hudson. That building has nine floors and includes covered parking. It opened in 2019 and was bought last year by Martin Ginsburg”™s Ginsburg Development Cos. (GDC) for $39.5 million.

At the time of the sale, the president and CEO of RMS Cos., Randy Salvatore, told the Business Journal that he had not been planning to sell the property.

“Honestly, we were not really marketing it,” Salvatore said. “We got approached by GDC. They have synergies because they’ve got the other buildings next door. So, I think it makes long-term sense for them.” He said at the time that RMS was interested in continuing to develop in Westchester.