Long List of Commercial Projects in the Works in Nearby White Plains

White Plains Mayor Adam Bradley and two city officials offered separate updates this week on the variety of projects under review, approved or under construction in the economic engine of central Westchester.

Addressing the Commercial & Investment Division of the Westchester Putnam Association of Realtors, Bradley said he would pursue redevelopment for both the White Plains station of Metro-North Railroad and the Winbrook housing project.

He also praised Metropolitan Plaza, a two-phase plan for a downtown parcel at 250-270 Main St. Developer A.J. Rotonde wants to immediately add 17,000 square feet of retail space and 9,000 square feet of offices above the existing one-story row of stores. Some time in the future, Rotunde and partner William Meyer would build the second phase–a six- to eight-story building with between 120 and 150 units that could be hotel rooms or apartments, depending on market conditions. Phase II also envisions a mechanical parking system for up to 150 cars.

"I think that the proposal is an exciting one," Bradley told the real estate group. "I don't want to count any chickens before they hatch when you have the times that we're in. But I think this is the type of proposal that could be a good for the city if we can iron out all the details and have some additional retail and restaurants on top, and have it next to City Center."

One reason for the city's support: Metropolitan Plaza is expected to generate less traffic than The Pinnacle, a Michael Graves-designed luxury condo building approved in April 2006 for 22 stories and 139 units, then again six months later for 28 stories and 171 units, plus a separate 52-unit apartment building for renters earning up to 60 percent of county annual median income; and 66,034 square feet of retail space. The Pinnacle's condo units were priced from about $500,000 to $3 million, during the development boom under Bradley's predecessor, Joseph Delfino.

By the time Pinnacle's developer proposed 32 additional luxury condos late in 2006, the high-end apartment market began its decline. A year later, The Pinnacle collapsed following a legal dispute between a Rotonde entity, Ridgemour Meyer Properties LLC, and its partner for that project, Ginsburg Development Companies LLC of Hawthorne.

Last week the city's Common Council agreed to circulate Metropolitan Plaza details to departments and boards for review. Bradley also praised Rotonde for sprucing up the exteriors of the existing retail row on the project site: "The façades on those structures for the storefronts are much, much nicer than they were."

A day before Bradley's address, city Planning Commissioner Susan Habel and John Callahan, the city's chief of staff and corporation counsel, discussed Metropolitan Plaza and other projects in an interview with Patch. Habel said city reviews for Metropolitan Plaza will likely take weeks, not months, since the city addressed many of the physical and visual effects of development a few years back for Pinnacle.

"We put a lot of pre-staff work into it before it went to the council. A lot of suggestions were made and they've been incorporated. It's not like it's the beginning of a process," Callahan said.

Added Habel: "I think Pinnacle would have worked, but I think this [Metropolitan Plaza] is more appropriate to that area."

Other projects and notes:

• Bengal Tiger site–Bradley and Habel said officials have not decided how the fire-gutted row of East Post Road stores anchored by the Bengal Tiger restaurant should be rebuilt. A challenge, Habel said, is the city's rule that downtown builders either provide parking or pay an in-lieu-of fee. On-site parking would be impractical, she acknowledged, since the site is less than 10,000 square feet. Next month, the council will consider a near-doubling of the fee for sites needing more than 10 spaces, from the current $11,200 per space to $20,000 per space.
• New stores—Downtown White Plains will soon see several new stores, notably a Five Guys Burgers and Fries; an Impulse Hibachi restaurant; an Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza from the owner of the namesake Fort Lauderdale, FLA, store; and a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant and ShopRite supermarket within City Center. Bradley would not comment on a rumor aired by a broker in the audience, who said part of the vacant Fortunoff store at Maple Avenue and Bloomingdale Road would soon be the first store in the state for the Dick's Sporting Goods chain.

• Bank Street apartments—Habel said LCOR Inc. of Berwyn, PA, has told the city it is pursuing financing for a second apartment complex on Bank Street, revised plans for which were approved last October by the council. Plans call for up to 561 rental apartments and about 6,000 square feet of street retail space just south of Bank Street Commons, whose 502 apartments LCOR built in 2004. LCOR and the city plan to market 112 of the apartments, or 20 percent, at below-market "affordable" rents, and the remaining 80 percent or 449 units at market rents. Plans include a business-class hotel.
• City Center and Galleria White Plains—Bradley said he had discussions with representatives of the owners of White Plains' two retail meccas on Main Street—City Center owner Cappelli Enterprises and Galleria owner Simon Property Group Inc.—about adding entrances on Mamaroneck Avenue and Main Street, respectively, to generate more pedestrian traffic.
• The Kensington at White Plains—Construction is in progress on the 87-unit senior community on Maple Avenue between Longview Avenue and Cromwell Place. The project includes 53 assisted-living units and 34 "memory support" or Alzheimer's units. Grand opening is set for the third quarter of 2011. Developer Kensington Senior Living will soon market its units and display a model unit at a Mamaroneck Avenue office, Habel said.

• 1133 Westchester Ave. Hotel–Habel said owner Robert Weisz's RPW Group has not filed for permits, pending the securing of funding, to build the 160-room extended-stay hotel it won approvals to build last year at the office campus near the Harrison border. The first year of the three-year approval ends in October.

• Business inventory—For the first time in a decade, the city is researching an updated inventory of all businesses within its borders, beyond its annual inventories of retail establishments. "Now that we've had a lot of development and a lot of changes have taken places, and changes in the economy, we want to really look at what is the profile of the types of businesses that are locating here," Habel said, adding that the city will use the data to strengthen its economic development effort and assist incoming companies and others interested in the city's business base.
• Personal lament—Bradley began his address declaring he would not discuss "anything personal in nature"—including the Westchester County Clerk filings Tuesday of divorce claims by him and his estranged wife, Fumiko Bradley, which he addressed the following day in a statement. The mayor faces nine charges, including misdemeanors and violations, following a pair of arrests earlier this year for incidents in which he was accused of abusing his wife. He has pleaded not guilty and withstood calls for his resignation; a trial is scheduled for October. "I don't think I have much that's personal any more."