Waterstone of Westchester formally opens

Waterstone of Westchester, the 132-unit independent senior living community at 150 Bloomingdale Road in White Plains, was formally opened June 8 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and reception attended by Westchester County Executive George Latimer, White Plains Mayor Tom Roach, executives from EPOCH Senior Living and National Development, numerous invited guests and residents of the boutique hotel-style community.

Ribbon-cutting for Waterstone of Westchester with White Plains Mayor Tom Roach holding scissors and County Executive George Latimer to the left. Photo by Peter Katz.

National Development is owner/developer of the estimated $120 million project and EPOCH is owner/operator. EPOCH operates 15 senior living communities in the Northeast.

The Waterstone is across from Bloomingdale’s and next to the office building at 120 Bloomingdale Road that at one time was the headquarters of Nestle’s. The New York State Department of Labor now is a principal occupant of the office building. Part of developing the Waterstone was construction of a new multilevel garage primarily to serve the office building. There is a separate ground-level garage in the Waterstone building.

The Waterstone has a mix of one-bedroom, two-bedroom and two-bedroom plus den apartments. Amenities include a fitness center, indoor pool, movie theater, restaurant, art studio, lobby bar, salon and concierge.

Roach said he remembers the night the Common Council gave final approval to the project and the quick action that followed to get construction underway.

“The next day I drove by and there were bulldozers clearing the site. It was like the Kentucky Derby when the bell rings,” Roach said. “This is a great location, walkable to a lot of different things, but it was not an easy site to develop because of the topography and the fact that you have an active office building that had to be accommodated.”

Latimer said that the Waterstone represents more than a building for the seniors who live there but a community as well.

“This is what you hope for. They have a community to connect to,” Latimer said. “We hope to be good neighbors in that community and that Waterstone has a very long and successful tenure.”

Larry Gerber, who has been president and CEO of EPOCH since the company’s founding in 1997, said, “This was not a simple process. There was a relocation of the office building’s parking on a temporary basis to build a garage for them and then take the remainder of the land and build this building. It’s been a long haul. There were some Covid-related delays; everyone who built a building had some Covid-related delays. We are here. We have this magnificent property and we’re very happy for it.”

Mark Forchielli, senior vice president of National Development, said, “This is our first project in New York so we are especially thrilled and quite proud to be here today. As a father of three young children I know first-hand what it means when they say, ‘it takes a village,’ and ”¦ it took a village here and the effort of many amazing folks to create this wonderful community.”