As of this writing, two big real estate plays are in progress in White Plains. One is on the fast track, and I think the other one will be a slow roll.
In the Central Business District, the District Galleria project just prepared its Final Environmental Impact Statement for this massive project, according to the Westchester Business Journal.
The current owner and lender are redeveloping the site. Prominent local developer Louis Cappelli and New York City’s largest office landlord S.L. Green are also part of the team. Since its original announcement, this seems to be a project that the City of White Plains and its citizens are very much in favor of. It is a $2.5 billion investment that will turn what was once a massive automobile-centric enclosed mall in the middle of the downtown into a new multi-family project with about 50% open space, opening up views of much of the downtown area that will be much more attractive and will reunite the city.
The project has been modified in a number of ways since originally proposed. The originally proposed 3,200 units of housing have been downsized to about 3,000 units. The retail and commercial space has been downsized from about 229,000 square feet to about 97,000 square feet for a total reduction of about 200,000 square feet. As most commercial tenants would be restaurants, entertainment and fitness venues, I think that is a very adequate number. Big box stores are not what will enhance this environment, and the larger stores, movie theaters, etc. are already located directly adjacent at the intersection of Main Street and Mamaroneck Ave.
The biggest modification has been to add an additional 500 affordable housing units to the required 300 that the developer had previously been proposing. This is 27% of the entire project, a very large percentage, and all affordable units will be of the same quality and finishes as the market-rate units.
Reportedly, the buildings containing the additional 500 affordable units will be located above the existing parking structures (which now provide parking under the Galleria) that are owned by the city and will be immediately occupied via a lottery on the day they open. Do not forget that affordable in Westchester County is really Workforce housing, not housing for poor people.
The residential buildings will be 41 stories tall, offering views of the Long Island Sound, New York City and the Hudson River from the higher floors. All parking will be underground and all buildings are within easy walking distance to the Metro-North Station. They will certainly be the tallest residential buildings in the city, but the height is needed to achieve the density that the large site requires to be economically viable and to create the sizable proportion of open space that is so important to this project.
In my opinion, this is a great project for the city. To replace “the great wall of Galleria” as Mayor Roach has always referred to it, with acres of open space will open up the downtown area. It will function as an attractive walkable link from Mamaroneck Avenue to the Metro-North Station. The new dining and entertainment venues should be attractive amenities that will activate the entire site, and the underground parking will be another plus.
The second project will be a much longer (and I believe contentious) project. An out of state developer has just purchased a 5-building office park on Route 287 just east of downtown White Plains. It currently contains 5 buildings, with 676,113 square feet of space. The buildings were constructed in the ‘70s and early ‘80s and are functionally obsolete. Very few office tenants remain in place.
Neighborhood associations from surrounding communities have shown significant opposition to any development on this site, most recently when the former owners proposed demolishing an underperforming office building at 701 Westchester Ave. and replacing it with a mid-rise residential building. The proposal was not approved by White Plains and accelerated the financial difficulties for the owner. This is a very prominent site, with a large frontage visible from Route 287. It has been poorly maintained for years, and its parking areas are pockmarked with potholes and weeds, and landscaping is already overgrown.
As these buildings drop to zero occupancy, they will likely be mothballed and will fall further into disrepair. No developer would replace these buildings with office buildings, as the demand is just not there in this post-Covid era. A mixed-use, primarily residential project would be the most likely replacement. This will require a rezoning of the site by the city, and I am confident that the local neighbors will likely again come out in force to defeat it. I believe this will likely take many years to sort out and redevelop. I have heard that the new owner has “patient money” and the financial wherewithal to wait out the inevitable rezoning fight, and approval delays until it achieves what it wants. This will likely be a long, expensive fight while the property continues to deteriorate to the advantage of no one.