One Clinton Park, RXR”™s newest building in downtown New Rochelle, was already about one-third leased by July 18, when a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to formally mark the opening of the 28-story structure. As city officials, representatives of RXR and invited guests gathered in the lobby of the new building at 55 Clinton Place, crews from Louis Cappelli”™s LRC Construction were at work just across the plaza on Two Clinton Place, another RXR tower expected to open in about a year.
In addition to 352 apartments in a mix of studio to three-bedroom units, One Clinton Park offers about 12,000 square feet of retail space, 17,000 square feet of open space, outdoor terraces, a dog park and parking beneath the building. There are resident lounges, a bike and yoga studio, children”™s playroom, co-working space, an outdoor sunbathing area and a speakeasy named Gibson”™s that”™s named after Charles Dana Gibson, a popular illustrator for Life magazine and other publications who lived in New Rochelle.
At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, New Rochelle”™s Commissioner of Development Adam Salgado announced that RXR and the city are staging a contest to select an artist or creative entrepreneur who will live in an apartment at One Clinton Park rent-free for a year.
“The competition is a social media competition that challenges artists and entrepreneurs … to feature their work and make a compelling case for why they should live and grow their business in New Rochelle through a video submission on Twitter or Instagram under the hashtag ”˜NewRoConnects,”™” Salgado said. “It”™s a chance for artists and creative professionals to experience and benefit from the energy that New Rochelle has to offer rivaling New York City at a fraction of the price.”
Joanne Minieri, senior executive vice president and COO for construction and development at RXR, talked about RXR”™s role as master developer for New Rochelle”™ downtown as well as handling its own projects there.
“At RXR we know that becoming part of the community is vitally important,” Minieri said. “We know that when the communities we develop in succeed we succeed and we are incredibly proud of the ongoing collaboration with so many of you here in New Rochelle as we continue to embrace our role as master developer.”
Minieri said that more than 70% of the subcontractors used by LRC Construction on the project were from Westchester County and included minority- and women-owned businesses.
“Though our continued partnership with the city we were able to provide new job opportunities and construction trade training to many local New Rochelle residents,” Minieri said.
Todd Rechler, Co-COO for RXR, thanked all those who worked to make the building a success.
New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson said, “I think we”™d all agree that in terms of its elegance and sophistication and quality of design it brings New Rochelle to a whole new level in terms of the multifamily dwellings that we are able to offer and that is exciting for all of us.”
Bramson said that the open space that is available for public use invites everyone to experience what downtown New Rochelle is becoming. He said the projects that have been built, are being built and have been approved for construction represent “a dramatic, positive transformation of what New Rochelle”™s downtown is and a claim on the imagination of the next generation of residents and business owners who will want to plant a flag in this city.”
