South Broadway Development in White Plains Moves Ahead
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By Bailey Hosfelt
The White Plains Common Council announced at its meeting on March 7 that it did not object to financial incentives granted for a new downtown residential development, which were approved by the Westchester County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) in late January.
The eight-story residential building — approved to be built at the former Frozen Ropes site at 51 South Broadway by Stamford-based developer RMS Companies — will include 134 residential units. Sixteen of the units will be affordable housing.
Because White Plains does not have its own IDA, the Common Council is permitted to object to the county IDA’s granting of exemptions. However, Councilman John Martin underscored that the city instead uses county-approved exemptions as an opportunity, both to recoup funds and encourage new development in White Plains.
“[Exemptions] are often the key thing to get the project over the line and to a groundbreaking,” Councilman Martin said. “In this case, we’re recovering over $450,000 in sales tax exemptions and $175,000 in mortgage tax exemptions. These are significant numbers that are going to come back to the city for this project.”
In addition to the more than $600,000 that White Plains is recovering from the IDA exemptions, the developer will also contribute a $322,030 fee-in-lieu payment to be used exclusively for park, playground and other recreational purposes.
Martin said the site, which has been vacant for a long time, has brought virtually no tax revenue to the city. Now, it will bring nearly $1 million in immediate revenue to White Plains.
“It’s a critical site on an entry to our downtown,” Martin said. “I was very pleased to support it tonight, and I look forward to them getting started.”
Councilwoman Nadine Hunt-Robinson highlighted that the development would bring jobs as well as affordable housing to White Plains.
“I’ve heard time and time again ‘stop building, stop building,’” Hunt-Robinson said. “Well, how are we going to get more affordable housing if we stop building? The key is to be able to do it right and effectuate an approach that gets the positives for the communities.”
Hunt-Robinson said that she would like construction management protocols to be followed as building begins so people living in the vicinity of new development projects experience as few disturbances as possible.
Improving construction management protocols, Hunt-Robinson said, will ensure that developers are not violating any rules, such as turning lights on early or keeping lights on later with impunity.
“We know that if we allow it to be done during construction with impunity, we’re going to have landlords that will act with impunity,” Hunt-Robinson said. “We want to set a tone of respect in our city.”
Mayor Tom Roach said he looks forward to seeing the development at 51 South Broadway move ahead.
Bailey has journalism experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties and New York City on topics related to LGBTQ+ issues, women’s rights, climate change, the environment, and local politics. They have been a full-time reporter with Examiner Media since July 2021. Read more details from Bailey’s bio here. Read Bailey’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/baileyhosfelt/