The building in Briarcliff Manor that once housed the radio station where shock jock Howard Stern began his commercial radio career would be torn down to make way for a 3-story mixed-use building if village officials approve a redevelopment plan.
Landmark Management LLC of Yonkers has proposed demolishing the building at 55 Woodside Ave. and replacing it with a structure with an office on the main level and five two-bedroom apartments on the upper floors. Landmark would move its real estate and development business into the office space.
The architect for the proposed building is Carl Finer of Elterman Finer Architects PC in Harrison. In a submission to the village Planning Board, Finer said that the office space would be occupied by the building owner/developer John Saraiva and that use of on-site parking spaces by people in the office would be restricted to 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays excluding holidays. He said this would ensure that there are sufficient spaces for apartment residents and help overcome a parking space deficiency at the site. He said that if Saraiva ever rented out the office space the lease would contain the restrictions on use of the on-site parking.
Dan Collins of Hudson Engineering told a meeting of the planning board that the applicant was addressing concerns raised by village officials about stormwater handling and the collection of trash bins. He explained that the residential trash would be collected by the municipality and trash from the office would be picked up by a commercial carter.
Paul Fusco of Louis Fusco Landscape Architects in Pound Ridge said that the developer had been talking with adjacent property owners concerning screening and they plan to have a strip of evergreen and deciduous trees as well as fencing. He said that nighttime lighting has been designed to avoid light spilling onto neighboring properties.
Saraiva said that the apartments would be market-rate.
“It”™s not an affordable project so just the going market rate for the apartments, for two-bedroom apartments in the area, that”™s what it would be,” Saraiva said. “You can be rest assured that the building would be occupied. We wouldn”™t be building it if we didn”™t believe so. It is market-rate apartments and obviously it”™s in a desirable town. It”™s got a great school system, so we don”™t see any reason why we wouldn”™t be able to attract really great tenants into an occupancy in a building like this.”
