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Nation's largest apartment developer proposes 8-story apartments across from Food Emporium between Rutherford & Livingston Avenues, with a line of townhouses on Greenridge Avenue.
"Jefferson at White Plains" targets luxury rental market.
JPI plans application in spring if city/Highlands neighborhood positive.
By John F. Bailey
CityLine: January 4, 2001 - City Hall
JPI, the nation's largest developer of luxury apartment housing presented a preliminary proposal for developing the empty, "woodsy" vacant property across Mamaroneck Avenue from the Food Emporium to the Common Council during its work session Thursday evening.
JPI's The Jefferson at White Plains is planned to be a 281-unit complex with 251 "high-end" apartments housed in a block-long 8-story building fronting on Mamaroneck Avenue. On Greenridge Avenue, up the slope from Mamaroneck Avenue, 30 additional units would be developed in a townhouse module fronting for three-quarters of the way on Greenridge between Rutherford and Livingston Avenues. A 4-story parking garage with 443 parking places, would be erected in the middle of the site on the graded site, hidden from residences on Greenridge Avenue behind the proposed 30-unit townhouse complex.
The complex in its preliminary design would feature landscaped diagonal setbacks on the corners of Rutherford and Mamaroneck and Mamaroneck Avenue and Livingston Avenue, with light "service retail establishments" (about 2,000 square feet) at streetlevel on the corners. The entrance to the 8-story balconied complex is designed to be a recessed courtyard in the center of the block with a drop-off, and a foyer leading to all apartments. A health club or "clubhouse," with about $70M worth of physical fitness equipment, available only to residents is planned for the center of the 8-story building.
The 3-story townhouse section running on Greenridge would feature a combination of 1-bedroom flats downstairs and 2 bedroom duplexes
The 8-story complex on Mamaroneck Avenue and the Town House line are to be accessed by a one-way street bisecting the block between Rutherford and Livingston Avenues and leading to the parking structure and guest parking. The new street would have 23 on-street spaces.
JPI is in discussion with the White Plains Department of Traffic to determine the traffic flow on the new access street, concerning such issues as whether it is one way north or south, and if turns into the Highlands neighborhood would be eliminated.
The project was presented by John Englert, Area Managing Partner of JPI (Boston), the owner and developer of the property, and Mark Weingarten, the White Plains attorney representing the project. JPI has been working with the White Plains Department of Planning and the city to overcome previous objections to retail proposals for the property.
The objections by the Council and the surrounding neighborhood had centered on the Highlands Neighborhood Association objection to traffic that they felt would be generated caused by a proposed retail development which featured a supermarket. This is JPI's second attempt at presenting a more acceptable proposal for the site. A senior citizen complex had also been suggested for the parcel.
John Englert, Area Managing Partner for JPI (Boston) described the company as the nation's largest luxury apartment developer. Last year alone the company developed 13,000 units across the country. Most recently they have opened The Jefferson at Providence (Providence, Rhode Island) and, in New York, the company has opened The Jefferson at Fishkill, which he said is 96% rented. He said JPI has selected White Plains as the most attractive entry site into the Westchester County market.
The apartments planned for The Jefferson at White Plains are geared for JPI's typical renter: people who are renters by choice, professionals, empty nesters, with few school-age children. Their average age: 35. Typical amenities of JPI buildings that would be part of the White Plains complex are 9-foot ceilings, fireplaces, lounging tubs, balconies, theater seating in projection rooms, Internet-wired rooms, and other luxury features.
The apartment rentals will range from $2,000 to $3,600 a month, with 15 of the 281-units set aside for affordable housing units, as requested by the Common Council. The complex is expected to cost $60 million to build with General Electric Credit Corporation backing the funding.
Common Council comments on the preliminary proposal were guardedly favorable. Pauline Oliva suggested more 2 bedroom apartments be added to the complex. Four Highlands Association residents expressed fear of heavier traffic on Greenridge Avenue. One resident was concerned about the height of the 8-story apartment structure. Weingarten said the height would be about 75 feet above Mamaroneck Avenue.
For comparison, 280 Mamaroneck Avenue, the closest building to the planned complex, is three stories in height. The YMCA building one block down is 7 stories in height.
Mike Graessle, City Commissioner of Planning, said JPI had come to the city to explore how they could overcome previous objections to the development. Graessle described the project as "considerably more neighborhood friendly" in that traffic fears had been addressed in the new plan by cutting back on the retail in favor of residential. Graessle said that if JPI found the neighborhood and Common Council were not inclined toward the project, they would not submit a formal application. JPI plans to circulate materials to the Highlands Association to promote the project. Graessle said that if there was no major opposition to the complex, that he expected a formal application by the Spring, with possible Common Council consideration by the fall.
Englert of JPI said that the complex could be completed in 20 months from the time they received approval..
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