Developer plans 240 residences in Yorktown
AÂ developer is floating plans to construct 240 residences and more than 30,000 square feet of commercial space on a forested parcel that sits between Route 202 and the Bear Mountain Parkway.
Howard Zelin of Zell Development Corp. presented his preliminary plans to the Yorktown Planning Board during a recent work session. His plans call for the construction of The Crompond Terraces, six three-story buildings composed of 30 apartments each on the northern 16.9-acre portion of the property. On the lower 6.71-acre parcel, a three-story building would contain 31,000 square feet of commercial space on the first floor. The upper two floors of that building would include 30 residences
on each floor.
The 23.61-acre property at 3258 Old Crompond Road is in the center of a region referred to as the Bear Mountain Triangle, an area of land surrounded by Old Crompond Road to the south, the Bear Mountain Parkway Extension to the north and the Taconic State Parkway to the east.
Development plans for the property have been in the works for nearly five years in a number of forms. Early plans by Mandalay Builders LLC in 2012 called for the development of a series of townhomes, while others included a 104-bed nursing home. Later plans featured a 96-unit senior living facility. In 2015, the developer aimed to construct a residential complex with 80 units of multifamily townhouses and 77,000 square feet of commercial space.
Dan Ciarcia of Ciarcia Engineering in Yorktown Heights, the company that prepared the conceptual site plan for the project and has been involved in the development plans since 2012, said that because of the more vertical layout of the new plan, the project will have less of a disturbance on the surrounding area.
John Tegeder, Yorktown”™s director of planning, said the newest plan “is quite different” than earlier proposals submitted by Mandalay Builders, “so it”™s going to be looked at quite closely.”
During his presentation to the planning board on May 7, Zelin said he was one of the investors in Mandalay Builders”™ earlier proposals, though requests for additional comment from Zelin were unreturned at press time. Tegeder said that Mandalay Builders is still involved in the current project.
To make way for an eventual residential development, Mandalay Builders previously petitioned the town to rezone the property from single-family residential. That zoning change ultimately occurred in 2015 and resulted in the rezoning of the top 16.9-acre portion of the property to multifamily residential, while the bottom 6.7-acre property was rezoned as commercial. Tegeder said there are roughly 10 structures on the property, including a number of single-family homes, that would need to be demolished to make way for the development.
The proposed development site is west of another project that has been long in the works. At 3200 Crompond Road, construction crews are continuing to complete site work on the 25-acre property that will feature a Lowe”™s home improvement center. The 124,000-square-foot Lowe”™s is slated for opening in 2019. Breslin Realty Development of Garden City broke ground on the roughly $70 million project in October of last year.
Other nearby businesses include Hudson Valley Steakhouse, Chase Bank and the BJ”™s shopping center and gas station.
Ciarcia noted that though the proposed project would be somewhat “off the beaten path” from those nearby businesses along Route 202, he believes the development could be “essentially part of that corridor.”
“The town is looking to make something special there,” Tegeder said, adding that the town hopes to transform the area into “a bit of a destination if possible.”