15-story building proposed next to Capitol Theatre in Port Chester

The New York City-based applicant North Pearl Holding LLC (c/o Titanium Realty Group) is proposing to build a 15-story 190-unit apartment building adjacent to The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester. The Capitol, designed by famous theater architect Thomas Lamb, was constructed in 1926 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Last year it was added to the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation”™s Historic Business Preservation Registry.

The Capitol has been operating as a highly successful concert and performance venue featuring some of the biggest names in music and entertainment today.

Attorney Anthony B. Gioffre III of the White Plains-based law firm Cuddy & Feder told the Port Chester Planning Commission that the proposed development “will not have any adverse impacts” on the theater and that the proposal incorporates “several building design elements to compliment The Capitol.”

The building would be constructed on a parcel of about 0.36-acre comprised of three lots. A one-story commercial building with a deli and a check cashing business currently is at 157 Westchester Ave. There is a vacant two-story commercial building at 5 N. Pearl St. while 9-11 N. Pearl St. has two vacant three-story mixed-use structures, one of which had been a firehouse.

The new building would include 1,465 square feet of commercial space fronting on Westchester Avenue as well as N. Pearl Street. There would be 52 studio apartments, 106 one-bedroom units and 32 two-bedroom units. A total of 110 off-street parking spaces are proposed in two floors of parking. Valet parking would be used along with a mechanical system to stack vehicles. Amenities for residents include a rooftop terrace and clubhouse. There would be 21 apartments priced in the affordable category and made available to people earning 60% of the Area Median Income.

Gioffre said that the proposed building complies with the CD-6T district in Port Chester”™s Character-Based Code, “which promotes higher density and tall building heights with a variety of commercial and residential uses located near the Port Chester Metro-North Train Station. The village”™s Comprehensive Plan also includes the premises within its Downtown/Train Station Higher Intensity Planning Zone, which promotes mixed-use developments with street-level retail and residential uses above.”

According to a traffic study prepared in January by DTS Provident Design Engineering LLP, the proposed development is not expected to have a significant adverse impact on area traffic or parking. The study estimates that 11 entering and 24 exiting trips will be generated during the weekday morning peak hour and 21 entering and 14 exiting trips will be generated during the afternoon/evening peak.

The 110 off-street parking spaces being proposed are only 58% of the 197 spaces that are required, including 190 at one space per apartment plus seven spaces for the commercial square footage in the proposed building. Gioffre noted that Port Chester allows the number of spaces required to be in a project to be reduced based on the way they”™d be used by residents, visitors, employees and patrons of businesses. He said that they should be reduced to 190 spaces total for the proposed project. He said that the developer wants to make a payment to Port Chester instead of providing all of the required parking, which is allowed by the village. Gioffre said that the parking that can be provided is limited because the amount of digging that can be done on the site is limited. He said adjacent buildings and infrastructure could be affected if the developer dug down too far to create additional parking levels.

Gioffre said that a calculation using a formula that estimates the number of school children a project will bring to a community shows that the proposed development would bring 20 new children to local schools. However, Gioffre pointed out that three new developments in Port Chester with total of 270 apartments have produced only two new children for the local schools and the proposed development could be expected to do the same. He said impacts on the school system would be offset by taxes generated by the project as well as any payments required of the developer.

The developer plans to put in two trees along the sidewalk on Westchester Avenue but none around the corner on N. Pearl Street because the sidewalk is relatively narrow and there are concerns that adding trees might interfere with meeting requirements of the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Developer North Pearl Holding LLC purchased the property at 9-11 N. Pearl St. and 5 N. Pearl St. on Nov. 2, 2022, from Macgro LLC and Marlor LLC for $5,500,000. The property at 153-157 Westchester Ave. still was owned by Delia Enterprises, Inc. as of Jan. 10.

The Port Chester Planning Commission planned to send out a notice that it would be lead agency for the ongoing review of the project.