When the New Rochelle City Council on Dec. 14 adopted amendments to the city’s Downtown Overlay Zone that included creating a new waterfront overlay zone, it was exactly what developer Twining Properties had been waiting for. Twining was selected by the city to create a 13-acre waterfront development that is to include a rehabilitated and repurposed New Rochelle Armory.
The city has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) designed to select a developer for city-owned land in the waterfront area. Twining envisioned a residential and retail center with approximately 700 apartments and some 80,000 square feet of retail, plenty of parking, waterfront open space areas and possibly a hotel. It also proposed renovating the long-deteriorated former armory and making it a centerpiece of the project.
While Twining was able to move ahead with stabilizing the armory and setting the stage for it to come back to life, moving ahead with final designs for the rest of the endeavor had been slowed by not knowing what would be permitted once revised zoning was finalized. For example, Twining needed to know what building heights would be permitted, what setbacks would be required and myriad other things that any developer needs to know before seriously sitting down at the drawing boards to create plans that can be submitted to move an approval process into high gear.
The new waterfront zoning generally approves buildings of four stories with additional height allowed through various bonuses.
“It”™s quite a large site and there is a master plan of just the streets and the utilities. The actual design of the buildings hasn”™t started,” Philip Wharton, chief investment office of Twining, told the Business Journal. “There”™s a 10-acre segment that”™s going to be developed commercially and there”™s a three-acre segment that”™s going to end up as a city-owned park.”
Wharton said that the park area, known as The Esplanade, would run along the entire waterfront and include a bike trail leading to an area called Armory Cove.
“We think the armory is going to be part of the identity of the project. It’s an interesting, historic building and whatever tenant we put in there is going to be respectful of that architecture,” Wharton said. “We”™ve gotten a lot of ideas and suggestions from the community. We”™re talking to a lot of different groups about different ways to use the armory and we expect that it will add a lot to the area.”
Some veterans were concerned enough about the future of the armory to file a lawsuit challenging the city”™s transfer of the armory property to Twining. A State Supreme Court Judge earlier this year dismissed the lawsuit.
The armory had been built in 1932. It was used for a time for Naval Militia training and then abandoned. In 1997, New York state sold it to New Rochelle for $1 with the provision that it be maintained for public recreation and municipal uses. Twining agreed to put $1 million into rehabilitating the armory with New Rochelle contributing another $1 million in state grant money.
Wharton said that the uses in the armory and activites programmed in the park are important for the development and the community.
“We want to have a use in the armory that is sustainable in the long term and that could be a for-profit or nonprofit and we want it to be integrated with the new Pratt Landing project, including sharing the parking,” Wharton said. “This is a very high-profile project. We think the armory has a lot of appeal if it”™s revitalized in a good way.”
Wharton explained that the density of the project that Twining will be constructing will be much lower than what is found in the heart of New Rochelle”™s downtown.
“It will have a different feel than the downtown. It will probably be a little quieter, a little less congested and so it”™s going to be a new neighborhood, but it”™s a new neighborhood that”™s going to be much lower density and sort of bucolic,” Wharton said.
Wharton said that the mix of residential units is anticipated to include ownership opportunities such as condos or town homes.
“Up to this point there hasn”™t been a lot of ”˜for sale”™ housing built in the downtown so we think that”™s going to be a good addition to the offerings that New Rochelle has,” Wharton said. “We think there will be some empty-nesters from New Rochelle and nearby communities areas that want to stay in the area but may prefer to own rather than rent.”
Wharton said that energy efficiency will be a significant factor in the designs.
“We want to make this a standout in terms of green technologies and we”™ll be looking at a LEED certification as well as other things and we think that the waterfront park will be a great opportunity for children and adults to be closer to the environment,” Wharton said. “It will be a place where people can linger outside, open space, which there”™s not a lot of in the downtown right now.”
Wharton said that because they don”™t have final designs and construction costs have been volatile lately, it”™s not possible to know what the project is going to cost other than it being “in the hundreds of millions.”
He emphasized that the armory building is available now.
“We”™ve stabilized it and we”™re talking to potential tenants now so if we”™re able to find someone that”™s a good fit we could start building that space out for them right away,” Wharton said. “As far as the rest of the project is concerned, we plan to build it all at once rather than phasing it. The construction process between excavating for an underground garage and building above ground is between two and two-and-a-half years.”
