[NYguy]

globest.com

Simone Will Build $175M Project in New Rochelle

http://globest.com/newspics/nyc_simonenewrochelle.jpg

By John Jordan
March 14, 2005

NEW ROCHELLE, NY-The City of New Rochelle has selected Simone Development Cos. for its Church/Division parking garage redevelopment project.

The plan, as currently envisioned, will involve the construction of a new parking structure, along with a 34-story residential condominium building.

The locally based Simone bested a number of bidders for the project they estimate will cost approximately $175 million to complete. Simone will construct a new 388-space municipal parking garage on the site of the present Prospect Street parking lot. The firm will also demolish the existing Church/Division parking structure. In addition, and at the city’s option, company officials say Simone will enlarge the capacity of the new garage by 140 additional spaces or make a $3 million contribution to the city.

On the site of the demolished Church/Division parking structure, the developer will build its condominium tower with approximately 385 residences. A total of 25 units will be townhouses at the plaza level. The building will also include approximately 44,000 sf of retail space and there are projected to be approximately 700 parking spaces beneath the building for the condominium owners with some of the parking available for the retailers, company officials add.

In addition, Simone plans to build on the site a “mid-rise” building with 30 to 50 condominium units and about 2,500 sf of professional office space. Joseph Simone, president of Simone Development, says New Rochelle is enjoying “a renaissance” and he expects this project will “aid in turning around the Main Street corridor.”

The city and the developer will begin contract negotiations and then must receive various municipal and environmental approvals. Company officials hope that construction can begin within the next 18 months. Simone will work with city officials to set aside a percentage of the residential units as affordable housing. Another option may be for the developer to make an as-yet unspecified financial contribution to a yet-to-be established affordable housing down payment fund.

[Lost Island]

I think it's time for a New Rochelle diagram. :)

[Pluto]

Has anyone ever seen Ragtime... took place in New Rochelle.

[NYguy]

I think it's time for a New Rochelle diagram. :)

Maybe a New Rochelle/White Plains diagram. White Plains has been pretty busy lately.

[H-man]

port chester should get some towers in our recent development

[Gulcrapek]

I added New Rochelle to Cities...

[NYguy]

New Rochelle will be the next White Plains. Here are two more developments there. Maybe we should have a NewRoc/White Plains thread...

(globest.com)

Cappelli Strikes New Deals With Trump and New Rochelle

http://globest.com/newspics/trump_donald.jpg

By John Jordan
May 2, 2005

NEW ROCHELLE, NY-Developers Donald Trump and Louis Cappelli decided to become partners again on a luxury condominium project, this time in the Downtown area here. Financial details were not disclosed. Cappelli’s firm, Cappelli Enterprises Inc. of Valhalla, also secured an agreement with the city for an urban renewal parcel in the Downtown district. In total, the Cappelli-Trump venture, now called Trump Plaza and the Lawton Street urban renewal property parcel, will involve approximately $750 million in new construction, if approved.

Construction is set to begin on the partnership project, which city officials have coined the “Parcel 1A site.” perhaps as early as next month. The 353,600-sf Trump Plaza will consist of 141,500 sf of retail space on two levels at the base, topped with a 30-story luxury residential condo tower.

In total, there are 181 units planned--51 one-bedroom, 101 two-bedroom and 29 three-bedroom units. The $250-million project will be linked to Cappelli’s existing $250-million New Roc City entertainment complex.

Cappelli says 231 of the 241 residences at Trump Tower and the Lofts at City Center--the pair’s other projects--in White Plains have sold in only six months and that sales to date at the two developments are more than $200 million. Trump says he is “very impressed with the turnaround that has taken place in White Plains and believes a similar renaissance is imminent in New Rochelle.”

This is not Trump’s first venture in New Rochelle. In the mid 1990s he proposed to build multimillion-dollar homes on Davids Island, but eventually withdrew the plan.

The city and Cappelli Enterprises signed a Memorandum of Understanding making Cappelli the exclusive developer for an entire block within the city’s Lawton Street Urban Renewal District. On the site, Cappelli has proposed to build two mixed-use 32-story towers totaling approximately 800,000 sf.

The site is bounded by Huguenot Street on the north, Anderson Plaza on the south, LeCount Place on the east and North Street on the west.

His initial plan calls for 200,000 sf of “boutique” retail space, an office/hotel component totaling 300,000 sf and 300,000 sf of luxury residential units. Cappelli will have 18 months to acquire the properties for the project to proceed. Currently, the project site includes a 38-unit apartment building at 5 Anderson St., a 9,600-sf Planned Parenthood office and a number of retail stores that the company says are on month-to-month leases. In addition a US Post Office is also located in the urban renewal block.

The project site is located between Cappelli’s New Roc City, the Trump Plaza property and AvalonBay Communities luxury rental apartment tower complex. “This new project will be the centerpiece in over $2 billion in redevelopment that is now taking place in our Downtown,” says Mayor Timothy Idoni. It’s a major step forward, not only for the Downtown, but for the entire city.”

[NYguy]

Here's another look at that first tower:


http://www.westchestercountybusinessjournal.com/current_issue/photos/032105wrop15.jpg


globest.com

Simone Will Build $175M Project in New Rochelle

http://globest.com/newspics/nyc_simonenewrochelle.jpg

By John Jordan
March 14, 2005

NEW ROCHELLE, NY-The City of New Rochelle has selected Simone Development Cos. for its Church/Division parking garage redevelopment project.

[NYguy]

The New Rochelle Intermodal Transportation Center is open (last year):


The New Rochelle Intermodal Transportation Center

Originally conceived more then twenty years ago, the New Rochelle Intermodal Transportation Center will soon become a reality. Entering the final stages of construction, the ITC will marry a new state-of-the-art parking facility with the historic New Rochelle Railroad Station and create a consolidated location for bus service.

The ITC parking garage will have a capacity in excess of 900 vehicles which is two and a half times the on-site parking capacity prior to its construction. But the ITC is much more then a simple parking garage. On the ground level of the garage will be the bus terminal portion of the Transportation Center. Complete with a waiting area and ticket office, the ITC will become home to long-distance bus carriers such as Greyhound and ShortLines as well as several routes on Westchester County's BeeLine system. In addition, Connecticut Limousine will provide service to regional airports. Several local taxi companies operate from and will service the ITC.

Just steps from the new facility is the New Rochelle Railroad Station. The station is serviced by Metro-North New Haven Line, and like the old song says, we're "Just 45 Minutes from Broadway". The New Rochelle station is the only stop in Southern Westchester on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.


http://stationparknewrochelle.com/View_2/R2.jpg
http://www.newrochelleny.com/images/ITCOmarSmallP-7.jpg

[NYguy]

Speaking of White Plains, I thought both cities had a height limit of 35 stories because all the new developments reached that height. But things seem to be moving up a bit...

http://www.cityofwhiteplains.com/main/SunnyMainSt.gif


(from the White Plains CitezeNetReporter
http://www.wpcnr.com/article3514.html)


Council OKs 40 Story Plus Height for Cappelli Hotel & Condo

WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL
CHRONICLE-EXAMINER
By John F. Bailey May 3, 2005

The White Plains Common Council approved the construction of two 40-story towers and hotel complex at 221 Main Street last night, as requested by Super Developer Louis Cappelli. The vote was 6 to 1 with Council President Tom Roach the lone dissenting vote.


http://www.whiteplainscnr.com/images/articles/2005425-hotelsweep.jpg

The Cappelli 40-Story Plus Hotel Condoplex Model, as soon on television, April 21. Design has not been settled upon yet according to Councilman Benjamin Boykin at Monday evening's approval vote. No hotel operator has been named for the site as yet, but Cappelli is said to be negotiating with a major luxury hotel organization. Video Capture April 21 by WPCNR News.


http://www.whiteplainscnr.com/images/articles/2005425-citytwotwentyonepan.jpg

Model of Complex In Relation to The City Center. 221 Main Cappelli Hotel Condoplex is at right. City Center at left. The view is looking South. Video Capture Made April 21 by WPCNR News.

http://www.whiteplainscnr.com/images/articles/2005307-onepinn.jpg

(a different look)

____________________________________________________

More from White Plains:


http://www.whiteplainscnr.com/images/articles/2005425-pinnandtwoforty.jpg

Cappelli Receives Approval for 8-Story Affordable Housing Complex on City Place (240 Main Street) The building is shown in context with Martin Ginsburg's Pinnacle Building. The 8-story ediface, described by Ken Worden who spoke at the public hearing as "absolutely wrong," and akin to "placing a mica rock" among crown jewels, and "nothing more than a Bronx apartment house of small apartments with no amenities," appears above and to the left of the date in the picture of the model shown April 21 to the Common Council. Councilman Arnold Bernstein, a Bronx native, defended the architectural integrity of Bronx apartment houses as quite spacious. Video Capture by WPCNR News.

In a separate vote, the Council voted 6-1, again with Mr. Roach demurring, to opt for an 8-story affordable housing building to be built at 240 Main Street on the edge of the City Place entry drive on the site of the Corner Nook, Main Street Bookstore and delicatessen. Robert Greer, Arnold Bernstein, and Larry Delgado held open the possibility that Mr. Cappelli could build the affordable housing elsewhere in the city other than the 240 Main site by working with another developer (perhaps Martin Ginsburg who proposes The Pinnacle project next door to 240 Main Street).

Mrs. Malmud also said that City Corporation Counsel, Edward Dunphy had personally assured her that there was no legal obstacle that could prevent Mr. Cappelli from building on the 240 Main site.

The vote clears the way for Mr. Cappelli to close on his financing for the project this week.

Hearings on The Hamilton Condominium on Church Street at Barker and the Twin condominiums proposed for Hale Avenue adjacent to Fortunoff on Maple Avenue were adjourned to June 6.

[NYguy]

More White Plains from
http://www.whiteplainscnr.com/article3406.html


http://www.whiteplainscnr.com/images/articles/2005323-lou.jpg

DESIGN BEING WORKED ON DAILY: Mr. Cappelli said his Renaissance Square design is developing a variety of face treatments varying from sheer glass to stepped glass, showing the latest Northerly view. He said this design is being tweaked. Photo by WPCNR News.

[NYguy]

(White Plains)

WPCNR ROVING PHOTOGRAPHER. March 25, 2005: The White Plains skyline is enhanced by the glitter and the glitz of Trump Tower at City Center rising on the left in the overcast Friday. The exterior has all its glass installed and with its platinum-rich crown graces the skyline. Louis Cappelli, the Super Developer, builder, reports the Trump Tower has contracted for 208 of its 212 luxury condominium residences with 4 more units left to be sold, while The Loft Building at City Center has 2 left to be sold.


http://www.whiteplainscnr.com/images/articles/2005325-trumptower.jpg


TRUMP TOWER AT CITY CENTER is the building in center of your picture on the right, the building with the yellow cap. (The view is looking East Southeast over the city from 1,000 feet.) Photo by WPCNR News.

http://www.whiteplainscnr.com/images/articles/20041214-twins.jpg

[Lecom]

Great news for New Rockelle, seems like there's another nice skyline going up in NY Metro area.

[NYguy]

Great news for New Rockelle, seems like there's another nice skyline going up in NY Metro area.

That is correct. When you have developers like Trump and Cappelli involved, a skyline can change in a hurry. And that's exactly what's happening in both cities.

White Plains itself will rival many cities of larger size as far as new developments go...


http://rds.yahoo.com/S=96062883/K=white+plains/v=2/SID=e/l=IVI/SIG=12throfq2/EXP=1115335690/*-http%3A//us.cnn.com/US/9909/03/gotti.sentenced.02/new.york.white.plains.jpg


http://www.cityofwhiteplains.com/main/SunnyMainSt.gif

[Gulcrapek]

"The Sails" is in New Rochelle.

http://www.kfarchitect.com

[NYguy]

"The Sails" is in New Rochelle.

http://www.kfarchitect.com

I remember that one....

http://www.westchestercountybusinessjournal.com/current_issue/photos/012405wrop06.jpg


But the developers lost out to what will now be this tower:

http://www.westchestercountybusinessjournal.com/current_issue/photos/032105wrop15.jpg

[NYguy]

Looks like Trumps White Plains tower could be Trumped by a new neighbor (The Pinnacle):

http://www.whiteplainscnr.com/images/articles/2005425-pinnandtwoforty.jpg

Cappelli Receives Approval for 8-Story Affordable Housing Complex on City Place (240 Main Street) The building is shown in context with Martin Ginsburg's Pinnacle Building. The 8-story ediface, described by Ken Worden who spoke at the public hearing as "absolutely wrong," and akin to "placing a mica rock" among crown jewels, and "nothing more than a Bronx apartment house of small apartments with no amenities,"

In a separate vote, the Council voted 6-1, again with Mr. Roach demurring, to opt for an 8-story affordable housing building to be built at 240 Main Street on the edge of the City Place entry drive on the site of the Corner Nook, Main Street Bookstore and delicatessen. Robert Greer, Arnold Bernstein, and Larry Delgado held open the possibility that Mr. Cappelli could build the affordable housing elsewhere in the city other than the 240 Main site by working with another developer (perhaps Martin Ginsburg who proposes The Pinnacle project next door to 240 Main Street).


It appears that the small affordable housing building in the middle will be absorbed and built elsewhere, allowing for a taller Pinnacle (the blue building):

http://www.wpcnr.com/article3517.html

Cappelli Subcontracts His Affordable Housing to Martin Ginsburg Nixing 240 Main

http://www.whiteplainscnr.com/images/articles/2005425-twofortypanpinn.jpg

The Pinnacle Model (blue towers) In Place on City Center Plaza. The 240 Main Street "Sore Thumb," (slightly to the right of the blue Pinnacle building model) as Martin Ginsburg described it -- is not to be. Instead affordable housing will be built, according to The Journal News to the left of the Pinnacle property on the site of Joma's Cafe, slightly to the left of The Pinnacle base. Whether or not Mr. Ginsburg is content to let his Pinnacle remain at 28 stories or go higher is a matter of fascinating speculation . Considering that Mr. Ginsburg now holds the fate of two projects, his and Mr. Cappelli's 221 Main Hotel Condoplex in his hands, he could choose to go up to 40 Stories or more, dwarfing the Trump Tower.
Photo Capture by WPCNR News.

________________________________________________

Another look at Trump's tower:


http://www.whiteplainscnr.com/images/articles/20041214-twins.jpg
http://www.whiteplainscnr.com/images/articles/2005325-trumptower.jpg

[NYguy]

It had to happen...
http://www.wpcnr.com/article3592.html


WalMart is Coming In

MAIN STREET JOURNAL
June 2, 2005

The mystery surrounding WalMart's coming to White Plains was lifted today, when WalMart spokesperson Philip Serghini, announced to The Journal News that WalMart was opening in late fall at the Main Street location adjacent city hall, where Sears used to be. No new information about the store was disclosed, and no date for the opening was set.

It will, according to Serghini, sell grocery staples, which was already known previously, in addition to the usual WalMart merchandise lineup. Serghini is quoted as saying, "We have all the necessary approvals. The building will be completely renovated."

The late fall opening, as opposed to the original target reported as being September, is not a good thing for the city's sales tax receipts because the city was anticipating at least three quarters of WalMart sales to pump up the sales tax receipts and continue "The Renaissance."

Earlier in the week, the Mayor's Office did not have any information for WPCNR on the WalMart status, which was strange if the company already had all its approvals. WalMart public relations, contacted by WPCNR Tuesday did not return WPCNR's call.

The announcement Thursday by Mr. Serghini that Wal-Mart is coming to Main Street is nothing new, and will be stiff competition to the Stop N Shop down Westchester Avenue, as well as Target across in the City Center.

In November, 2004, WPCNR wrote the following describing Walmart's concept of "limited groceries." as Mr. Serghini describes the new White Plains WalMart-to-be:

WPCNR wrote in December, 04, : Walmart will offer a supermarket that, according to a spokesperson “won’t be a full-blown SuperCenter, but it will provide for some milk, eggs deli-meats and some fruits and vegetables so people in town can have a quick place to pick up some of these items,” does not begin to describe what the market will be really like.

If Wal-Mart is building a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market, it will be a full-blown supermarket, open 24-hours a day, giving city convenience to the owners of $2 Million condominums in Trump Tower across the street. WPCNR has also learned that it will be the flagship Neighborhood Market in the New York Metropolitan area, since there are no Neighborhood Markets listed within 100 miles of White Plains on the Wal-Mart website Store Finder.

The Neighborhood Market will underprice Stop N Shop, just opened two years ago, by about 10% and definitely will underprice Whole Foods Market at Fortunoff. The Wal-Mart market isn’t a “deli” operation, by any means, and is considerably larger than a gas station convenience store.

Wal-Mart Neighborhood Markets are open 24 hours a day at 60 locations thoughout the country, and are Wal-Mart’s latest efforts to compete against a new retail sector: the food business.

As predicted by WPCNR in September (2004) as a good fit for the Sears building, each Neighborhood Market is approximately 40,000 square feet, which would fit in nicely on the first 82,000 square foot first floor of the “The Shoppes on Main,” the "stackmall" next to City Hall, and upstairs, on the second 82,000 square foot second floor, there could be the rest of Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart’s Neighborhood Markets according to Baseline.com, the Tampa Bay Business Journal and usavanguard.com, are no Sam’s Clubs.

In South Ogden, Utah, the Neighborhood Market features wide aisles with luxury glazed brown floors, soothing, sophisticated muzak, a drive-through pharmacy and a pizza-to-go stand.

In a visit to a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market in Alabama, it was discovered by USA Vanguard reporter Michael Gregory that inside the Neighborhood Market were aisles and aisles of delights from cell phones to satellite systems, cosmetics supplies, school supplies, as well as an automotive section. Mr. Gregory reports the ability to get a key made, a prescription filled, even taxes done. You can read his article at http://www.usavanguard.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/01/02/402066c9235f5.

The model Neighborhood Market contains “amply-stocked” meat and deli sections, baked goods, and frozen foods. Neighborhood Markets are tied in by satellite to Wal-Mart’s retail link network to monitor what’s moving and what’s not, allowing trucks to deliver fresh stocks the next day. This economy of supply, according to Baseline.com allows Wal-Mart to offer prices 10% less than traditional supermarkets such as Publix, Winn-Dixie and Kash n’ Karry, Krogers, and Albertson’s.

http://www.whiteplainscnr.com/images/articles/2004916-sears.jpg

WalMart Location in White Plains: Opening "Late Fall." Photo, WPCNR News Archives.

[JACKinBeantown]

I hate to say it, but we probably owse a bit of WalMart's current success to some dealing made under Clinton's watch, showing that he was far from perfect as a president too. (Not that I'm comparing him to Bullsh in any way).

On a separate note, I was through New Rochelle yesterday, and I think this new building will fit in nicely with what NR already has. It's sorta the NYC equivalent of LA's Glendale.

[AJphx]

wow these cities: (westchester county, correct?) Yonkers, New Rochelle, and White Plains are really improving their skylines.

They also have some large corporations don't they? I don't remember the companies exactly but I remember seeing on packages at the supermarket that some large food or health companies had addresses in White Plains.

[buildup]

Suburbia no more! What would Rob and Laura Petri say today?

[JACKinBeantown]

They'd say, "Gosh."

[H-man]

white plains has the world HQ of IBM and nine west and a couple other big ones port chester used to have phillip morris's and krafts but they moved out

[tackledspoon]

Snapple is based out of White Plains... fuckers stole it from my home town.
I have a lot of friends in New Roc and I'm really wondering if they know about all of this and how they feel about it. I'll try to get their perspective.

[Bogombo]

great news for NR and WP. I just wish Stamford would follow suit and build some towers over 300ft. Height restrictions suck.

[BayRidgeFever]

New Rochelle actually has a nice mini skyline, White Plains takes it up a step. I think it's just great, it's nice to see SOME cities moving upwards instead of sprawling. Tell that to Stamford, who could really use some new condo towers instead of townhouses.

[NYguy]

More from White Plains:


Goin Up: Council Approves 86 New Condo Units for Church & Barker


June 7, 2005

The Common Council voted unanimously Monday evening to approve ASB Capital Management to build an 86-Unit Condominium on the Church & Barker corner two blocks north of City Hall. Two neighboring residents, who reside in 40 Barker Avenue said they appreciated how ASB Capital Management worked with them to add more landscaping and restrict entry and egress to the Church Street frontage. The building will be 13 stories high. ASB Capital Management will pay $460,000 into a newly created city housing down payment fund, (created by a resolution on the consent agenda) to satisfy ASB's obligation to build affordable housing units as part of the project.


http://www.whiteplainscnr.com/images/articles/2005607-mayorjoel.jpg

Mayor Joseph Delfino Congratulates Joseph Siegel, architect for the Church Street Hamilton Condominiums approved Monday evening. Photo by WPCNR News.


http://www.whiteplainscnr.com/images/articles/2005606-churchbarker.jpg

GOIN' UP: A closer look at the Church Street-facing front of the architect's rendering. Siegel said the building will have more glass, higher ceilinged apartments, a health spa, a library, and parking entrance and excess at lower right. Photo by WPCNR News

[James Bond Agent 007]

Wow, how did I miss this thread?

Great news!

[Lost Island]

I wish they would rezone some already dense areas like Great Neck, Hempstead and Long Beach, Long Island...Just as they are doing in New Rochelle and other parts of Westchester. In most of LI places mentioned it's glaringly obvious how 7 stories was the general limit. And usually the bottom level is always half sunk into the ground.

Some height would be nice to break up the monotony here. A sixty story tower planned for Uniondale is a little too big of a start though.

[NYguy]

NY CONSTRUCTION NEWS

Three Mixed-Use Projects Planned


New Rochelle may add $2 billion in new projects to its downtown as planning moves forward on three major mixed-use developments in the city.

The furthest along is a 353,600-sq.-ft. tower breaking ground this summer. Cappelli Enterprises of Valhalla, N.Y., is teaming up with New York developer Donald Trump to build the tower, which will have 141,500 sq. ft. of retail space on the two lower levels topped with 181 condominium residences. The building, called Trump Plaza, will link by an enclosed pedestrian bridge to Cappelli's $250 million New Roc City entertainment, hotel, and residential complex completed in 1999. Construction on Trump Plaza is expected to take 18 months.

Cappelli also signed a memorandum of understanding with the city to redevelop the two-acre Lawton Street Urban Renewal District, an effort that will include demolition of existing structures and relocation of tenants. In their place, Cappelli plans to build two 390-ft.-tall towers with 200,000 sq. ft. of retail, 300,000 sq. ft. for an office and hotel complex, and 320,000 sq. ft. of luxury residences. Once started, construction is expected to last 18 months. Together with the Trump Plaza partnership, the two new Cappelli projects are estimated to cost $750 million.

The third major development would be from Simone Development of New Rochelle, which has proposed a $175 million, 34-story tower with 385 condos and 44,000 sq. ft. of retail space. On the same site, Simone plans a second mid-rise with 30 to 50 condos and 2,500 sq. ft. of office space. Simone expects to begin construction within 18 months.

[NYguy]

JOURNAL NEWS

New Rochelle grows up

By KEN VALENTI
August 28, 2005


NEW ROCHELLE — New Rochelle's downtown is only about a year away from reaching its big 3-0 — if you measure in stories.

Workers have begun digging at sites for two towers that will soar higher than the city's current tallest buildings and surpass 30 stories for the first time.

Trump Plaza, developed by Donald Trump and Louis Cappelli, will rise 32 stories, and the second phase of the Avalon on the Sound apartments will top out at 39 floors.

Together they will bring about 770 dwellings for new downtown residents, a prospect that means more business for merchants like Jaspreet Singh, owner of the Global Java NY coffeehouse in the first Avalon building, on Huguenot Street at Memorial Highway.

"It's going to help everybody," said Singh, 22, of Tuckahoe, who opened his shop about 10 months ago.

"New real estate is always good for the city," added Scott Bower, 30, an accountant who was working on his laptop computer in the coffee shop. "Maybe it would attract people back from (New York) City."

The buildings promise to transform the skyline of a city where Avalon's first phase, a 24-story building, is already the tallest building.

They will rival the new wave of skyline-setting towers in White Plains — City Center and One City Place, both 35-story Cappelli buildings, and a similar-sized tower planned by Cappelli and Trump.

"I think it's fair to say that New Rochelle, like White Plains, has been an undiscovered jewel for both residents and retail, and we're about to see those buds blossom all at once," said Joseph Apicella, senior vice president for Cappelli.

Already, more than 500 people are on a waiting list for the 181 condominiums that will occupy Trump Plaza in New Rochelle — a level of interest higher than even the developers expected, Apicella said.

"I think it says something about the market in New Rochelle for a high-rise, upscale product," he said.

Workers will begin pouring the foundation in four to eight weeks, he said. It is expected to be complete in late 2006 or early 2007, with units going for $500,000 to $1 million.

It will include 141,000 square feet of retail space in the first two levels, to which developers plan to bring major national stores, Apicella said.

Trump Plaza, though it contains fewer stories, will be the taller of the two buildings at 390 feet — plus a 40-foot structure for mechanical equipment. That is because the two retail levels at the base will be 30 feet high each. It will rise across Huguenot Street from the New Roc City entertainment-hotel complex, just east of North Avenue.

Avalon's second phase will rise 375 feet, with the top level reserved for a banquet hall and two outdoor terraces, offering expansive views that will include Long Island Sound and New York City, said Phil Wharton, senior development director for AvalonBay Communities, the developer.

It also will sit on Huguenot Street, at Division Street, cater-corner from the first Avalon building. Foundation work is expected to begin in November or December, Wharton said.

While construction could take more than two years, some residents may begin moving into the lower levels after 18 months, said Fred Harris, AvalonBay senior vice president.

Developers of both projects said people are eager to take advantage of the downtown locations, near the train station and close to New York City.

Bower, the accountant, is one of those people; he moved into Avalon's first phase three years ago and says he loves his new home.

"It's a great location, so close to the train, and so close to I-95," he said. "It's extremely convenient."

With all that hoped-for prosperity, however, come more cars.

Reny Arumugam, who has lived in New Rochelle since 2000, said the new construction is good for business but can make it more difficult to find a parking spot.

"I walk downtown because all the parking is going away," said Arumugam, who lives several blocks from downtown.

Craig King, New Rochelle commissioner of development, said the downtown area can absorb the new residents, many of whom are expected to commute to work by train.

Both projects were subjected to the usual environmental reviews to weigh their impacts on the community and to look for ways to mitigate potential problems, King said.

"There will be more traffic, obviously, but our analyses indicate that the system can accommodate this," he said.

[NYguy]

NEW YORK MAGAZINE


The New New Rochelle
The classic Westchester suburb is being reinvented: less Laura Petrie, more Carrie Bradshaw.


http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/realestate/columns/realestate/realestate050926_2_400.jpg

By S.Jhoanna Robledo


Like everyone else in town, April Chiu, a pathologist, discovered quickly that $500,000 wouldn’t buy her dream New York apartment, or anything close. In Manhattan and even Brooklyn, Chiu, who was renting an Upper East Side one-bedroom, could afford only a walkup or a studio—“if I’m lucky,” she says. Loath to face more disappointment, she literally changed course and headed for New Rochelle after seeing an ad promoting a project there.

Although it’s hardly the sixth borough, this bedroom community in Westchester County—best known as home to Rob and Laura on The Dick Van Dyke Show—has become Plan C for folks priced out of Manhattan and Brooklyn. “This is a historic moment in New Rochelle,” claims Craig King, the city’s commissioner of development. “The growth in the New York market has fueled a building boom.” Over the next five years, more than 1,300 apartments will hit the market, including a conversion called Davenport Lofts and a residential high-rise, tentatively called the Church/Division Project, by developer Joseph Simone. Even Donald Trump is coming in, teaming with local developer Lou Cappelli for a tower, which will, inevitably, be called Trump Plaza. “Thirty percent of people who have already purchased come from Manhattan,” says Angi Kwok, sales director of 543 Main Street, where Chiu has bought one of the 90 apartments.

Prices are, of course, the lure, averaging $450 to $500 per square foot, says Peter Murray, whose company is developing a few projects in the area. (In Soho and Tribeca, condos average $1,080 per square foot, and peak around $2,000.) New Rochelle’s downtown, where most of these buildings are clustered, is rather urban and far less car-dependent than most suburbs. “It’s a three-minute walk to the train!” exclaims Karen Mansour of Prudential Douglas Elliman, which markets 543 Main. Should new émigrés miss Manhattan—or work there—the ride to Grand Central takes 30 minutes, a bit less than the time from Park Slope.

The downside? It’s not New York. “Some people think I made a mistake. I can’t run out and get milk from the corner store in the middle of the night,” Chiu acknowledges. But from her one-bedroom with a study, balcony, and doorman, this doctor probably won’t be feeling too much pain.

[gripja]

Trump Plazas in White Plains, New Rochelle and soon in Jersey City? I think I am getting sick of the guy already. Build us a tall one in NYC Don, C'mon.

[NYguy]

Trump Plazas in White Plains, New Rochelle and soon in Jersey City? I think I am getting sick of the guy already. Build us a tall one in NYC Don, C'mon.


Don't worry. Trump's busy with towers in Chicago and many other cities, but he'll get his Manhattan crown eventually.

[kazpmk]

Is Avalon on the Sound apartments II UC? Emporis and SSP recently changed the status from UC to proposed.

[NYguy]

Is Avalon on the Sound apartments II UC? Emporis and SSP recently changed the status from UC to proposed.

Not sure about that one...


JOURNAL NEWS

New Rochelle can handle traffic from towers, expert says

By KEN VALENTI
September 21, 2005


The city can handle most of its downtown tower development projects now under way, but will need to improve its traffic flow by the time the latest ones are completed, a consulting firm told the City Council last night.

With a wave of new towers planned or under construction, including at least four that would break 30 stories for the first time, traffic is expected to worsen.

The cars brought by most of those projects, including a second phase of the Avalon on the Sound apartments and a tower being built by developers Donald Trump and Louis Cappelli, can be handled by adjusting the timing of traffic signals, said officials of AKRF, a Manhattan-based planning firm. The company is studying the capacity for more downtown development in a city that is seeing a major boom in large residential, office, hotel and shopping projects.

Graham L. Trelstad, a vice president and director of planning with the firm, said the final report, due in early to mid-October, would look at how much more development downtown can handle.

"We will give you some sense of — as they say — how much room is left in the bucket," he told the council last night in City Hall.

Mayor Tim Idoni said after the meeting that it was heartening to hear that traffic expected with the current wave of building projects could be handled without major changes. The later projects — a development planned on North Avenue by Cappelli and a project at Church and Division streets by Simone Development — might require spending money for improvements, but those projects will come later, he said.

"That gives us some time to work on those," he said.

Trelstad praised the city for fostering a variety of uses downtown and said the final report would encourage leaders to continue to do so.

Presenting early recommendations, Trelstad said the city should keep the low-rise, small-town character of Main Street, but Huguenot Street can hold more development, particularly near the train station with its parking garage and the corner of North Avenue.

"It's really a great mix of uses and we really want to build on that," he said.

He also said the downtown offers "wonderful access to I-95 and wonderful access to the railroad. We want to take advantage of that."

The firm looked at 47 intersections in and around downtown and found that several of them would see long lines and long waits when the final two projects now planned were built, said Anthony Russo, technical director with AKRF.

"There are things we're going to look at to make it feasible," he said.

Two later projects would push the traffic situation toward the point at which it would become unbearable, Russo said. Some downtown areas put up with such situations as a trade-off for more city vitality. But when the wait at a traffic light hits three minutes or the line extends so long it interferes with other intersections, it should be dealt with, he said.

The consultants said the final report will look at several options for improving traffic, including the creation of satellite parking areas at the edges of the central business district, and an intense traffic-management system, in which intersections are monitored with sensors and cameras to make adjustments that break up snarls as they occur.

Prohibiting on-street parking in some areas also could be considered, although, the consultants said, that can create other problems, such as complaints from merchants.

[NYguy]

JOURNAL NEWS

Another tower for New Rochelle

By KEN VALENTI
September 10, 2005


NEW ROCHELLE — Plans for a large development in New Rochelle — the first of the major downtown tower projects directly on North Avenue — now include another 39-story tower.

Filling most of the block between North Avenue and the New Roc City entertainment center, the project would include 210 dwelling units — condominiums or rental apartments — in a tower 390 feet tall. It also would have a second tower rising 235 feet, with a 125-room hotel and 176,000 square feet of office space.

The taller building would match two other buildings for which construction has begun — Trump Plaza, planned to rise 390 feet, and the second phase of the Avalon on the Sound apartment complex, which will have 39 stories but will be slightly shorter at 375 feet.

The project along North Avenue also would have an eight-story loft building and 235,000 square feet of retail space in three levels, one of them below ground, said Cappelli Senior Vice President Joseph Apicella. He said the plans are in the works, and could change.

Earlier versions of the plan included two 32-story towers. The newer version was described by Apicella this week.

Mayor Timothy Idoni said he couldn't talk about the exact height because he hadn't seen the latest plans and they are still under environmental review. But he said the project needs to be large to help transform the downtown into a shopping destination.

"I think there is a need for a certain density in order to not only make the project viable but to bring back the significant retail on the base floor that we have been aiming for the last five years or so," he said.

Cappelli is expected to complete a draft of an environmental study by Sept. 30.

Before building can start, however, a 38-unit apartment building, a day-care center, a Planned Parenthood branch, a row of storefront shops and the strip club Casanova Gold would need to be moved. The city has been fighting to prevent Casanova Gold from operating as a topless club. While the city and the club await a judge's ruling, dancers at Casanova Gold wear pasties when they dance.

Construction is not expected to begin for a year or more. The city is prepared to consider using its powers of eminent domain to forcibly buy properties from owners reluctant to sell, but Idoni said that would be a last resort.

"We sincerely hope that we don't have to," he said.

Apicella and city officials said they would help residents and businesses on the site relocate to acceptable sites.

Bob Conner, owner of the Royal Child Care Center on LeCount Place, said that on one hand, he didn't want to move, but on the other hand, "I'm not a person to stand in the way of development."

If his business moves, he wants to remain in downtown New Rochelle, where some parents take their children to the center by train or bus. He also would like a ground-floor space at least big enough for his current enrollment, caring for 98 children at a time.

"No matter what happens, we'll find another place," he said.

City Development Commissioner Craig King said there are "definitely some opportunities" for the day-care center in other downtown buildings.

The block also contains the city's downtown post office, which would remain, although Cappelli hopes to build on a post office parking lot behind the 1938, curving, art moderne structure. Apicella said Cappelli was talking with the Postal Service about moving a distribution operation to another site. Postal Service customers would still be able to buy stamps and mail letters and packages at the site.

Apicella said the construction could start in a year at the earliest, after everyone on the site is relocated. King said the time frame was possible, but would be aggressive.

Even with a long-range building schedule, the city's downtown is growing quickly.

"I like all the big buildings, but the (question) is: How many can they put up?" asked Ursula Schweers, a New Rochelle resident for 13 years.

Idoni said city officials will be careful not to overload the area, but that for now, the city should continue taking advantage of its proximity to New York, access to trains and buses, and views of Long Island Sound to continue drawing developments.

"I believe that with sensitive traffic studies and environmental reviews, we will know when to stop," he said.

[NYguy]

Here's Trump in White Plains:

CitizeNetReporter
WPCNR MAIN STREET JOURNAL

Commentary with the Super Developer

by John F. Bailey. September 29, 2005

http://www.whiteplainscnr.com/images/articles/2005921-loudonald.jpg

Louis Cappelli, the Super Developer, partner with Donald Trump in the Trump Tower at City Center, said today that the apartments in Trump Tower have appreciated in price from $500 a square foot to $700 a square foot, explaining the appearance of “approximately 30 units” on the real estate market the last week, as speculators attempting to make money on their investment.


http://www.whiteplainscnr.com/images/articles/2005921-entry.jpg

Want to live in the lap of luxury with spectacular views of Long Island Sound, New York City and the Catskills in the heart of White Plains, tranquilized in the comforting ambience of the Trump lifestyle, but did not buy when you had the chance?

Well, here is your chance to ascend to The Pantheon of condominium sublimium, the high panache of the pampered patrician, to once again own a piece of the Trump, as owners about to close on 34 units have placed their Trump Tower condominiums on the market -- a virtual White Plains Trump Exchange as real estate speculators attempt to resell their condos at a profit.

The local realtors have never seen anything like it. Within the last two days, by WPCNR count, 33 Trump Tower condominium units have been offered on the multiple listings of local realtors, and one in the The Lofts at City Center up for sale.

[NYguy]

JOURNAL NEWS

Cappelli seeks sales, mortgage tax breaks on Trump Plaza

By KEN VALENTI
November 30, 2005


NEW ROCHELLE — Developer Louis Cappelli is seeking some $3.6 million in mortgage and sales tax relief while building the downtown residential and retail tower Trump Plaza — but it would be repaid if the building becomes condominiums, as planned.

The 32-story project, one of several tall towers in Westchester County built or planned by the mega-developer, would be eligible for relief if the developers market the units as rental apartments.

Cappelli, who is building the 32-story tower on Huguenot Street in a partnership with Donald Trump, has applied to the New Rochelle Industrial Development Agency for the tax relief. Through IDA programs, Cappelli could be excused from paying mortgage tax and sales tax on construction materials.

If the tower is built as condominiums, Cappelli's first plan, it would not be eligible for the breaks, and the developers then would pay the money.

"It's an insurance policy," Joseph Apicella, senior vice president of Cappelli Enterprises, said of the IDA application. "If the project is eligible, why should we lose the benefits upfront?"

Cappelli is one of the most highprofile developers in the area, with projects completed or under way in White Plains, Ossining, Yorktown, Valhalla, Dobbs Ferry, Mount Pleasant and Tarrytown. The projects include highly visible efforts, such as the City Center in downtown White Plains. Controversy sometimes has come with his plans. In Ossining, for instance, the approval this month of the $75 million Harbor Square residential-retail project planned by Cappelli — recently joined in the effort by developer Martin Ginsburg — came after years of debate. Critics said the development was too dense and would take up waterfront that could have been better opened for public use.

Before any breaks can be offered on Trump Plaza, however, the New Rochelle IDA will have a hearing at 7 p.m. Jan. 5 in City Hall, 515 North Ave.

At least one IDA member, David Lacher, said he was skeptical of the application on a project that has been touted as a luxury condominium tower.

"My problem is that the marketing of this thing from the very beginning has been condominiums," Lacher said.

Tax breaks became controversial years ago, when abatements were offered to Cappelli and other developers to build major projects, such as New Roc City. City leaders said the breaks were needed to jump-start the economic revival of the city, and more recent projects were built without such incentives.

New Rochelle Development Commissioner Craig King said yesterday that the IDA benefits are not property taxes, which, if offered on a project like Trump Plaza would amount to much more than the $3.6 million or so that the IDA benefits would save the developers.

Under the IDA programs, the project would be subject to a "payment in lieu of taxes," or PILOT, rather than paying property tax. But IDA officials said that in this case, the payment would be exactly the same as if the developers were paying property tax.

Work has begun on the project, along Huguenot Street just east of North Avenue, on the site known as Parcel 1A. The building, containing 181 dwelling units and 141,000 square feet of retail space in the first two levels, is expected to be completed in late 2006 or early 2007. Apicella has said the units, as condominiums, will sell for $500,000 to $1 million. But he said yesterday that any such project contains uncertainties, and that if interest rates on home loans soared and the developers did not have the flexibility to change the units to rental apartments, "you'd have a white elephant there."

City Manager Charles Strome III said he wanted to learn what people have to say about Cappelli's application. But he did note that the property had remained undeveloped 40 years before Cappelli began clearing it. The IDA benefits, he said, are similar to those offered in other cities, including benefits Cappelli was granted for work in White Plains.

"So it's not like we're treading new ground," he said.

[Jularc]

Listings of High-End Condos Proliferate


http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/01/08/realestate/08wczo.jpg
A rendering of Renaissance Plaza,
two 40-story-high towers in White
Plains, where 200 condos will come
on the market in February. The $400
million complex will also have a hotel
and offices.


By ELSA BRENNER
Published: January 8, 2006

SOON after the luxury condominiums at Trump Tower went on the market early last year in this city's rapidly growing downtown, Mary Ellen Gramolini snapped up a two-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath unit for $570,000. "I got in on the ground floor," said Mrs. Gramolini, who then sat back and watched as the prices of units in Trump Tower soared.

Mrs. Gramolini's plan was to rent out her unit for several years and then, once her three children were grown and on their own, move in with her husband, Tom.

But she became worried that the market was becoming saturated and that she might have trouble renting her apartment, and she put her unit up for sale in the fall, asking $699,000.

She was not the only one who decided to speculate on the 212 condos in the newly built 35-story Trump Tower at City Center, where some units offer views of the New York City skyline.

John Durante, a real estate investor and law student at Pace University, purchased a two-bedroom penthouse condo with two and a half baths and a 500-square-foot terrace at the new Trump building for just over $1 million. Last fall, when the units in the residential tower were almost sold out, Mr. Durante put his condo on the market for $1.9 million. When it did not sell, he lowered the price to $1.79 million. It still has not sold.

Both Mrs. Gramolini and Mr. Durante tried to do what many speculators have done during the hot condo market of the past 18 months - buy at a low price and then flip their units six months or a year later. But as Mrs. Gramolini and Mr. Durante and others learned this fall, the upward momentum of the real estate market seems to have abated somewhat.

Mrs. Gramolini's condominium is in contract. She would not reveal the sale price, although she indicated it was below her asking price. "Because I got in at the ground floor, I'm not taking a loss," she said. "It just didn't work out as well as I had hoped."

Mr. Durante put two condos on the market: a penthouse he occupied in another section of downtown White Plains and his Trump condo. The occupied unit sold quickly. He said he would move into his unsold Trump condo.

"Not just in White Plains, but all over Westchester, the condo market has softened," Mr. Durante said. "It's especially true in White Plains," because another high-end residential project is nearing completion, "and people have a lot to chose from," he added.

Of 125 apartments on which buyers have already closed at Trump Tower at City Center, about one-third returned to the market shortly after their closings. Some people describe the surfeit of condos on the market in White Plains as a glut.

But P. Gilbert Mercurio, chief executive of the Westchester County Board of Realtors in White Plains, called that an overstatement, even though there are currently 56 percent more condominiums on the market countywide than there were a year earlier - 600 at last count, compared with 397 last December.

"Yes, inventory has increased because the market is slowing down in Westchester and elsewhere," he explained. "But we're still a very long way from using words like 'overhang' or 'glut' to describe the situation." Looking back, he said, there were 860 condos for sale at the end of 1996, and 1,100 condos in the early 1990's.

In addition, 2004 was a record year in terms of the number of condominiums sold, 1,438, and 2005 came close. As of Dec. 29, there had been 1,400 condo sales, Mr. Mercurio said.

Clearly, though, the real estate market - for stand-alone and multifamily homes and co-ops as well as condos - is slowing down, and the net result is that some speculators, especially condo speculators like Mrs. Gramolini and Mr. Durante, have been disappointed.

Greg Rand, a managing partner for Prudential Rand Realty, reported last week that his company has more than a dozen never-occupied units in Trump Tower in White Plains listed for sale. They range from a three-bedroom three-and-a-half-bath unit listed at $1.795 million, to a one-bedroom two-bath unit going for $789,000.

This high number of units on the market partly reflects the property's exceptional early performance, Mr. Rand explained. Sales were so rapid that the building almost sold out within a few months of the initial offering. In response to the unexpectedly robust demand, the tower's developers, Louis Cappelli and Donald J. Trump, raised prices several times in the ensuing months.

Mr. Rand said the rush to buy Trump condos was as feverish as a sale in a department store. When early buyers saw how much more later buyers were paying, a number of owners "turned around all at the same time and put the condos back on the market."

This has rapidly changed the dynamics at the Trump Tower. "Whenever you have a lot of people selling the same product at the same time, you have a buyer's, not a seller's, market," he said.

Mr. Cappelli estimated that about 25 percent of the condos in the project - an unusually high percentage - were bought by speculators who never intended to live in the units.

Now Mr. Cappelli has 200 more units in Renaissance Plaza, two 40-story-high towers in downtown White Plains, coming on the market in February at prices somewhat higher than those at Trump Tower. Mr. Cappelli conceded that the speculators selling condos at Trump Tower were "undercutting the new product a little."

Renaissance Plaza, a $400 million complex, includes hotel and office elements. In all, it has approximately 890,000 square feet and is diagonally opposite Trump Tower and City Center, a shopping and residential complex.

Real estate observers like Mr. Mercurio at the Board of Realtors described the current real estate market as "in the process of sorting itself out."

Henry Uman, a retired real estate lawyer in Larchmont who has witnessed market ups and downs over 40 years, said that speculators interested in flipping properties should always be prepared to weather the vicissitudes of the market.

"When the need arises," he said, "you have to have the wherewithal to stay with things over time."


Copyright 2006The New York Times Company

[NYguy]

Listings of High-End Condos Proliferate


http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/01/08/realestate/08wczo.jpg
A rendering of Renaissance Plaza,
two 40-story-high towers in White
Plains, where 200 condos will come
on the market in February. The $400
million complex will also have a hotel
and offices.


Now Mr. Cappelli has 200 more units in Renaissance Plaza, two 40-story-high towers in downtown White Plains, coming on the market in February at prices somewhat higher than those at Trump Tower. Mr. Cappelli conceded that the speculators selling condos at Trump Tower were "undercutting the new product a little."

Renaissance Plaza, a $400 million complex, includes hotel and office elements. In all, it has approximately 890,000 square feet and is diagonally opposite Trump Tower and City Center, a shopping and residential complex.


I guess these will be the new tallest in White Plains...it's turning into a mini-Manhattan north.

[NYguy]

A mini tallest race in New Rochelle...

(journal news)
A tower rises in New Rochelle

By BILL CARY
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: February 18, 2006)


Despite 2 feet of snow and 50-degree weather that's created a giant muddy mess in the middle of downtown New Rochelle, construction crews from AvalonBay Communities continued this week to dig a foundation for a new tower of luxury rental apartments that has an outside chance of enjoying a brief reign as Westchester's tallest building.

The 588-unit Avalon tower, the developer's second in downtown New Rochelle, will rise 39 stories above the nearly 2-acre site near the New Rochelle Public Library. The first units will be ready for occupancy in May 2007, and the $180 million building should be finished by the end of next year, says Phil Wharton, vice president of Virginia-based AvalonBay.

A few blocks away, Donald Trump and Louis Cappelli are building another 39-story tower, one that will house 181 luxury condominiums and 150,000 square feet of retail space. Even though both are 39 stories, the Trump-Cappelli tower, now known as Trump Plaza, will be slightly taller because its rooftop mechanical systems are more extensive.

Construction of Trump Plaza is well under way and should be completed in the spring or early summer of next year, says Joe Apicella, senior vice president of Cappelli Enterprises. So in all likelihood, it will win the tallest-building crown.

This new Phase II of AvalonBay's development of market-rate rental apartments in New Rochelle is just across Huguenot Street from the first phase, a 412-unit tower known as Avalon on the Sound that rises 24 stories above the New Rochelle train station.

Housing developers in the Lower Hudson Valley have learned in recent years to follow the Metro-North Commuter Railroad lines to entice buyers and renters. Build apartments near a train station, especially near busy stations in suddenly popular downtowns like White Plains and New Rochelle, and people will snap them up.

"I can get to the train in three minutes," says LaVone Hazell, who has been living in a 12th-floor, two-bedroom apartment in Avalon on the Sound for nearly five years, moving up from the Bronx soon after the building opened in 2001. She teaches at American Academy McAllister Institute of Funeral Service on West 54th Street.

"I was able to get one with a terrace," Hazell says. "That's what really sold me on the apartment."

She also enjoys the amenities at Avalon, including concierge service, outdoor pool and picnic area, community room (where she hosted a baby shower) and a large gym that is especially appreciated by her grandnephews when they visit.

"I can't say that I use the gym much, but I think about it every day," Hazell says. "I'm so busy that I never get a chance to use these things."

Paul Dunn and his wife, Charmane, moved into Avalon on the Sound in April 2002, intending to stay for nine months to a year while they looked for a house in the area. Instead, they stayed a full two years.

"We had a beautiful apartment on the 17th floor with views of Long Island Sound that were to die for," Dunn says. "Every window faced Long Island Sound, and we had a terrace, too. My wife grew up in Jamaica, in Montego Bay, and she loved looking out over the water."

And they found that they liked living in downtown New Rochelle so much that they abandoned the idea of a house and instead bought an apartment in Davenport Lofts when the former Bloomingdale's building on Main Street was converted to condominiums.

"We would have stayed at Avalon if they were selling those apartments," Dunn says.

"New Rochelle is a gem," he says. "You're close to Manhattan, you're close to Connecticut, New England, Long Island. You can get anywhere from here."

Dunn is trying to open a jazz club in downtown New Rochelle and is close to a deal with a landlord, he says.

"It's good to have stuff in your own neighborhood so you don't have to run to Manhattan all the time," he says.

Already, he and his wife have found "five or six quality restaurants within walking distance," including an Indian one that had 40 diners when they ate there on a recent weeknight. That would have been unheard of 10 or even five years ago.

Ralph DiBart, executive director of the New Rochelle downtown Business Improvement District, calls Avalon's decision to build a second tower a "strong vote of confidence in the downtown."

"We think it will have a major impact on retail development in New Rochelle," he says. "We'll have 600 additional households living downtown, shopping in stores and going to movie theaters, restaurants, jazz clubs."

The new building, which will carry an address of 27 Division St. even though it will face Memorial Highway, will also include about 7,000 square feet of noncontiguous retail space on Memorial Highway and Huguenot and Division streets.

AvalonBay was negotiating with Whole Foods last year, but that deal fell through, and negotiations are under way with a restaurant owner, says Rob Seitz, a spokesman for the company.

Studio apartments in the new tower will measure 520 square feet; one-bedrooms, 740; two-bedrooms, 1,145; three-bedrooms, 1,400. Rents are projected to be about the same as Avalon on the Sound, Wharton says. Projected monthly rents for studios will be $1,500, $1,800 for one-bedroom apartments, $2,600 for two-bedrooms and $3,400 for three-bedrooms.

The existing parking garage next to Avalon on the Sound has more than 590 spaces, some of which are now leased to non-Avalon residents. The new building will have a 450-space garage for a 588-unit building. Combined, the parking-to-residents ratio will be one to one, Seitz says.

The amenities will be the same as the old building but on a larger scale. The community room will be in the penthouse, with lots of glass and spectacular views.

So far, the new building has no name.

"We're just calling it Phase II at the moment," Wharton says. "If anybody has any suggestions, we're open to ideas for something to distinguish it from Avalon on the Sound."

[NYguy]

Louis R. Cappelli and Donald J. Trump Celebrate 'Topping Off' of Trump Plaza, Westchester County's Tallest Building

Monday July 31

40-Story Luxury Condominium Tower in New Rochelle is Setting Fast Sales Pace


NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y., July 31 /PRNewswire/ -- The resurgence of downtown New Rochelle soared to new heights today as developers Louis R. Cappelli and Donald J. Trump joined with Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano, New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson and other VIPs to celebrate the "topping off" of Westchester's tallest building to date -- the 40-story Trump Plaza luxury condominium tower.

The topping off ceremony, which marks the completion of the building's final floor, was celebrated by raising a giant U.S. flag to the rooftop and unfurling it amidst bursts of confetti. Following the ceremony, a VIP reception was held at Mariano Rivera's new restaurant -- Mo's New York Grill -- which recently opened in downtown New Rochelle and is another example of the continued downtown revitalization.

Rising 435 feet above downtown New Rochelle, Trump Plaza will offer magnificent panoramic views of the Manhattan skyline, Long Island Sound and the Hudson Valley area. Designed by the nationally recognized architectural firm of Lessard Architecture of Vienna, Virginia, Trump Plaza features 187 one-, two- and three-bedroom residences.

"By combining Manhattan-level amenities with the very finest in residential design, Trump Plaza is setting a new standard for luxury living in Westchester County," said Mr. Cappelli, President and CEO of Cappelli Enterprises. Speaking at a ceremony held at Le Count Place in direct view of the Trump Plaza construction site on Huguenot Street, he added: "Trump Plaza will be a world-class signature building that will transform New Rochelle's skyline and continue the exciting revitalization already under way in this great city."

Mr. Trump said, "Once again my partnership with Louis Cappelli has produced another landmark building, this time in the heart of downtown New Rochelle. Just as Trump Tower helped spark a renaissance in downtown White Plains, Trump Plaza is generating new excitement and energy for New Rochelle by offering a level of luxury condominium living never before realized."

Trump Plaza is the newest chapter in one of the region's great real estate success stories as developers Louis R. Cappelli and Donald J. Trump have partnered to create Westchester's most exciting and best-selling residential projects. Their first venture, Trump Tower at City Center in downtown White Plains, was sold out in six months.

Trump Plaza is well on its way to setting records of its own. Since sales began several months ago, almost 40 percent of the 187 residences have been sold, making Trump Plaza one of the hottest-selling luxury condominiums in the region. The 352,600-square-foot tower is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2007. "The buyer response to Trump Plaza has been truly phenomenal. This project is generating tremendous excitement throughout the entire New York Metropolitan area," said Mr. Cappelli. "The presence of a new Intermodel Transportation Center a block away is a great amenity."

The elegantly designed residences at Trump Plaza feature hardwood floors; gourmet kitchens with granite countertops, custom cabinetry, top-of-the-line "floating glass" and stainless steel appliances; marble baths with designer vanities and sinks; and other ultra luxury finishes that have become the hallmark of Trump buildings. The residences are priced from the low $500's to $1.5 million.

Trump Plaza's wealth of first-class amenities include an elegant marble lobby, indoor swimming pool and full-service health club, a business center, a rooftop garden and 24-hour valet parking and concierge services. Trump Plaza offers the added convenience of being just a block from New Rochelle's new rail Transportation Center and five minutes from Interstate 95.

The Trump Plaza Sales Center, which is located at 145 Huguenot Street immediately adjacent to the construction site, features full-size, furnished model apartments that include all the fixtures and finishes that will be standard in the condominium residences.

The development of Trump Plaza represents the latest investment by Cappelli Enterprises in downtown New Rochelle. The company's $250 million New Roc City mixed-use development has played a key role in the rebirth of downtown New Rochelle. Cappelli will soon embark on plans for the redevelopment of the entire city block opposite Trump Plaza. Called LeCount Square, the project would involve approximately 1 million square feet of mixed-use development comprising hotel, office, retail and luxury residential housing uses. All of these developments will bring Cappelli's total investments in New Rochelle to over $1 billion.

The Marketing Directors, Inc. is the exclusive sales and marketing agent for Trump Plaza. George A. Fuller, a Cappelli company, is the general contractor.

Cappelli Enterprises Inc. is a leading real estate developer and general contractor in the Northeast. Headquartered in Valhalla, NY, the company has built more than 10 million square feet of mixed use, retail, waterfront, residential, office building, laboratory and parking facilities. Contact:

[NYguy]

Louis R. Cappelli and Donald J. Trump Celebrate 'Topping Off' of Trump Plaza, Westchester County's Tallest Building

Monday July 31

Rising 435 feet above downtown New Rochelle, Trump Plaza will offer magnificent panoramic views of the Manhattan skyline, Long Island Sound and the Hudson Valley area. Designed by the nationally recognized architectural firm of Lessard Architecture of Vienna, Virginia, Trump Plaza features 187 one-, two- and three-bedroom residences.

Looks like New Rochelle wants to unseat White Plains as city with Westchester's best skyline...

Journal News

Another 400-foot tower proposed in New Rochelle

By KEN VALENTI
July 30, 2006

NEW ROCHELLE — The next big downtown project, complete with plans for another 400-foot-plus tower, has come on deck.

Skyscrapers that might have seemed unthinkable several years ago are boosting the city's skyline. Louis Cappelli's Trump Plaza is reaching its full height of almost 450 feet, and Avalon on the Sound's second phase is well on its way to reaching a similar height.

Now the city is reviewing a study of the effects expected from a tower planned off Main Street, where it would replace a green-painted steel parking deck built in 1973 between Church and Division streets off Main Street.

In all, that would mean four towers at or near the maximum height allowed downtown, with Cappelli's LeCount Square project also planned. The Simone project would be the first to incorporate Main Street.

"We think that this project will dramatically change Main Street forever," said Joseph Simone, president of the company.

Earlier this month, the City Council accepted a draft study of the impacts the project would create; a hearing is scheduled in August.

The tower's exact height is not yet determined. It would rise 39 stories with a softly lit "retro-deco" element concealing mechanical equipment on the roof, said James Davidson, design partner with SLCE Architects, designers of the project. The building is designed to seem slimmer by angling its narrow sides toward Long Island Sound and toward the Interstate 95 and Main Street side, he said. Two tiers taper the building as it rises, and it is designed with a lighter appearance using clear glass and pre-cast stone in a "warm, honey-colored limestone" look designed to fit in with Main Street.

It would include "curved glass balconies to recall sails that would give a lofty look to the building," Davidson said.

It will also include a plaza and 44,000 square feet of stores by the base of the tower, another 2,500 square feet of commercial and office space, and a plaza of about two-thirds of an acre. A key piece of the project would be an 860-space parking garage on the block to the southeast, bounded by Division and Prospect streets, Centre Avenue and LeRoy Place. It would be surrounded on three sides by a park slightly smaller than the plaza.

Simone said the building will hold some 400 condominiums. A second parking structure in the base of the building would offer some 730 spaces for residents and merchants. The study submitted to the city projects that 763 people would live there.

The project raises a potential issue of conservation because it would mean taking down three Main Street buildings that the developer said could once have been considered for national historic designation. They include the distinctive 1932 former Palace Shoe Store, with its black glass panels and parapet lined with terra cotta ornamentation.

The plan comes as the city plans to apply to have its Main Street district placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Acting City Historian Barbara Davis said that the Palace building facade would likely contribute to a historic designation and that the building is considered intact because it has much of its original material, notwithstanding missing glass panels that have been replaced by plywood.

"The facade is a very important feature to Main Street," she said.

Simone said the stores would be replaced with an entrance to the plaza.

The other stores to be removed are A.R. Kings clothing store and the New Rochelle Variety Store. A man identifying himself as the manager of the clothing store would not talk on the record; Sam Kwon, owner of the variety store, said he planned to move to a nearby storefront.

Anthony Miceli, a barber at Frank's Hairstylist across South Division Street from where the plaza would go, said the ongoing development is good for the city. While at first he said the towers may be rising too tall too fast, he reconsidered and said that the new residences would bring life to the downtown. Waving at people shopping at the farmers market down the street, he said: "Look at what we've got coming in here. It's beautiful."

The study projects that the development would bring more than $1 million a year in property and sales tax to the city and $2.8 million annually to the school district. That would more than pay for the $850,000 the developer calculated as the cost of taking on 53 new students.

"We think you have the best of all words in that location," Simone said. "You've got very easy access to the roadways if you need it. You've got unbelievable water views, and you've got access to beach and country clubs."

______________________________________________________________

New Rochelle weighs height limit for downtown

By KEN VALENTI
July 9, 2006

NEW ROCHELLE — A proposed zoning law would put a limit on exactly how high a downtown tower could rise, setting it at 448 feet, 6 inches.......

King said the law would formalize the approach that has long been taken by city planners. They consider the current 390-foot height limit to apply only to space to be occupied, while mechanical space for elevator equipment, air handling machinery and other items could be placed on top. But it became necessary to set the approach into law now that several buildings under construction or planned will reach the height limits.

It also means that New Rochelle is unlikely to become the home of Westchester's height champion in the current building boom. Cappelli's Renaissance Square on Main Street in White Plains includes two towers now rising to 484 feet.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/01/08/realestate/08wczo.jpg
A rendering of Renaissance Plaza,
two 40-story-high towers in White
Plains,

The New Rochelle law would set a maximum height for mechanical space at 15 percent of the height of the usable space. That means an additional 58.5 feet for a building reaching the maximum 390 feet for usable space. The existing law also allows for spires, cupolas, belfries and masts that could "exceed the otherwise maximum permitted building height" by up to 10 feet, but it was not clear if those would be allowed in addition to the extra room for mechanical space.

________________________________________________

Earlier construction shots of Trump Plaza

http://www.cappelli-inc.com/developments/images/trumpPLAZA_2.jpg_http://www.cappelli-inc.com/developments/images/pd_trumpplaz-02.jpg


http://www.cappelli-inc.com/developments/images/pd_trumpplaza_01.jpg


Construction shots of Renaissance Plaza

http://www.cappelli-inc.com/developments/images/rensquare3.jpg


http://www.cappelli-inc.com/developments/images/pd_renaissance_01.jpg


http://www.cappelli-inc.com/developments/images/pd_renaissance_02.jpg

[Scruffy]

it almost looks like trump is topped out. a week or two left at most. i will get pics tomorrow.

[Derek2k32]

@ 484', 221 Main Street.
http://www.sotawall.com/proj_detail/USA_221M_01_lg.jpg
Sota Glazing Inc.
http://www.sotawall.com/

[NYguy]

The height race aint over til its over. This is great stuff...

(Journal News)

New heights reached in New Rochelle


By KEN VALENTI
August 1, 2006


NEW ROCHELLE — The view is expansive from Westchester County's new roof.

Developers Donald Trump and Louis Cappelli celebrated the reaching of their Trump Plaza tower's full 435-foot height yesterday, making it the tallest building in county history — at least for a couple of weeks — and essentially rewriting the county's notion of what makes a skyscraper.

Dignitaries and reporters were treated to visits of what will be the top residential floor at almost 400 feet, offering a tri-state view never before seen in the county, from the floor of a building that still is a skeleton of concrete and steel, waiting to be fitted with walls, furnishings and, of course, windows. From the top floor, a visitor sees the inlets and coves of Echo Bay, then the successive harbors of Long Island Sound's jagged coastline — Mamaroneck, Milton, Port Chester — and into Connecticut, where a mild haze blurred the Sound's horizon with the sky.

Manhattan's skyline and the New Jersey side of the Hudson River spread out to the south.

"This is as great a view as there is anywhere in the country," Trump said on what will be called the 39th floor of Trump Plaza. "Westchester has just become very hot."

It won't be Westchester's height champ for long, though. Ten miles to the north, the frame and thin white construction crane could be seen piecing together the first of two Renaissance Plaza towers set to become a Ritz-Carlton in White Plains. The White Plains building has reached its 37th floor and within a month will top out at 484 feet, said Joseph Apicella, Cappelli's senior vice president.

Topping the Ritz-Carlton's height would be difficult in New Rochelle. The City Council voted last month to set a height limit of 448.5 feet for a tower, including the area that covers mechanical items such as elevator equipment.

For Cappelli, the contest isn't over. He said he planned to ask New Rochelle city officials to adjust the zoning to allow his LeCount Square to rise some 10 or 15 feet higher than his White Plains project, to start a "little friendly municipal competition" between the cities.

New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson said later that Cappelli likely meant the comment in a humorous vein. But Cappelli brought up the subject several times.

Meanwhile, three other towers of 400-plus-feet are planned in New Rochelle within blocks of Trump Plaza. One of them, phase two of Avalon on the Sound, has reached nearly half its height.

Cappelli told reporters Trump Plaza offers an "urban chic" appeal, drawing young professionals who work in Manhattan.

"It's just a great feeling to live in a high-rise and to use the feel of a city," Cappelli said.

The two developers and local dignitaries celebrated the topping off to fountains of red, white and blue confetti on LeCount Place, and streamers of the same colors cascading from the top of the tower. A trumpeter played the national anthem as a large American flag was raised to the top.

"This great tower embodies a city that is rising in every sense of the word," Bramson told the hundreds of people gathered on LeCount Place. "It represents nothing short of the creation of a new city, one that we could not have imagined just a decade ago."

With 187 condominiums and 141,000 square feet of retail space, the building is expected to open in fall 2007. The retail space will fill the two lowest floors, oversized levels that are considered to be six stories in height. Cappelli said more than 70 condominiums have sold for $500,000 to $1.8 million each and about half the retail space was spoken for. That includes New York Sports Club, which plans to fill 50,000 square feet, and some restaurants and other businesses Cappelli was not ready to announce yesterday.

Trump brought star power to the proceedings. As he left the building, heading to Mo's New York Grill, co-owned by Yankee pitcher Mariano Rivera, for a buffet lunch, he paused to pose for a photograph with Deanna and Jillian Venditti, the two daughters of construction foreman Dominick Venditti.

"I thought he was pretty cool," said Deanna Venditti, 15. "He was really nice."

[NYguy]

it almost looks like trump is topped out. a week or two left at most. i will get pics tomorrow.

Great, I was hoping someone would get pics.

[hoosier]

Seems like Manhattan cannot keep up with the demand for housing in the New York area. Is there any thought of expanding the subway out to New Rochelle as it is not too far from the city proper?

It would be great to see how all of these projects look from the air.

[Antares41]

Seems like Manhattan cannot keep up with the demand for housing in the New York area. Is there any thought of expanding the subway out to New Rochelle as it is not too far from the city proper?

It would be great to see how all of these projects look from the air.

Subway extention to New Rochelle is not necessary since I believe the New Haven Metro line goes right through the city, you probably can get to Manhattan in 30 minutes or less.

But, if it ever happen the Dyre Avenue Line stops right at the Mount Vernon border so that would be the line to extend, but again don't hold your breath!

[NYguy]

Subway extention to New Rochelle is not necessary since I believe the New Haven Metro line goes right through the city, you probably can get to Manhattan in 30 minutes or less.

That's correct. You can hop on a Metro-North train to or from Grand Central. Also the case with White Plains. In fact, much of the development in White Plains has centered around proximity to the train station. That's the trend for a lot of towns these days, even in New Jersey. It makes sense. Its the best way to fight sprawl.

[NYguy]

I find this flurry of construction in the two towns fascinating. Especially the push for a little height...

Developers Donald Trump and Louis Cappelli celebrated the reaching of their Trump Plaza tower's full 435-foot height yesterday, making it the tallest building in county history — at least for a couple of weeks — and essentially rewriting the county's notion of what makes a skyscraper.

It won't be Westchester's height champ for long, though. Ten miles to the north, the frame and thin white construction crane could be seen piecing together the first of two Renaissance Plaza towers set to become a Ritz-Carlton in White Plains. The White Plains building has reached its 37th floor and within a month will top out at 484 feet, said Joseph Apicella, Cappelli's senior vice president.

Topping the Ritz-Carlton's height would be difficult in New Rochelle. The City Council voted last month to set a height limit of 448.5 feet for a tower, including the area that covers mechanical items such as elevator equipment.

For Cappelli, the contest isn't over. He said he planned to ask New Rochelle city officials to adjust the zoning to allow his LeCount Square to rise some 10 or 15 feet higher than his White Plains project, to start a "little friendly municipal competition" between the cities.

Meanwhile, three other towers of 400-plus-feet are planned in New Rochelle within blocks of Trump Plaza. One of them, phase two of Avalon on the Sound, has reached nearly half its height.

[NYguy]

Older news...(CitizeNetReporter)

Pinnacle Asks for Increase in Height, 32 More Units

MAIN STREET JOURNAL. June 2, 2006

The Pinnacle Tower developer, Ginsberg Development Corporation, has filed an amended site plan to increase the number of condominium units from 139 to 171, and increase the height of its Tower 66 feet. The amendment was filed May 24, and the Common Council members received it Thursday evening.

The developer asks to pay a fee-in-lieu of for the 2 addtional units of affordable housing they are required to provide with the addtional 32 condo units. The height of the building moves up from 23 stories to 28 stories, plus a copper-clad pinnacled standing 66 feet in height according to Common Council documents, which brings the top of the Pinnacle even with One City Center at 340 feet, and only slightly below the Trump Tower on the Martine side of the City Place. Cappelli Enterprises which fought The Pinnacle original request for height of 28 stories, did not return a call for comment.

Councilman Arnold Bernstein told WPCNR this afternoon, it was his undersanding that Pinnacle construction costs have "risen exponentially" and the additional 32 units are to offset the estimated increases in costs. A letter detailing the proposal from William S. Null, the Pinnacle attorney also cites "to mitigate increased construction costs," as a factor in the request for the increase. The proposal is being referred out to departments in the Consent Agenda Monday evening.

[H-man]

actually taking the train takes a little while. i live in port chester and even the directs can take upwards of 50 minutes. but its still way more convienent than driving

[Crawford]

actually taking the train takes a little while. i live in port chester and even the directs can take upwards of 50 minutes. but its still way more convienent than driving

Not true.

Rush hour from New Rochelle is 32 minutes.

http://as0.mta.info/mnr/schedules/sched_results.cfm

Rush hour from Port Chester is 42 or 43 minutes.

http://as0.mta.info/mnr/schedules/sched_results.cfm

[H-man]

well when i go into the city i usually take the 10:45 which according to your link is in my time range

[NYguy]

actually taking the train takes a little while. i live in port chester and even the directs can take upwards of 50 minutes. but its still way more convienent than driving

Depending on the line, taking the subway from some parts of the city can take an hour.

[Scruffy]

I would so much prefer a subway extension to Westchester cause as fast or not fast as metro north is, its insanely expensive and that cant be argued with. But the subway will never be extended cause it would take the line outside of the NYC borders and they'd never do that without a sizable money incentive that westchester cannot provide.

I got pics of Renaissance Plaza yesterday and am on my way now to New Rochelle before work to check out Trump and Avalon 2.

[Antares41]

[QUOTE=Scruffy]I would so much prefer a subway extension to Westchester cause as fast or not fast as metro north is, its insanely expensive and that cant be argued with. But the subway will never be extended cause it would take the line outside of the NYC borders and they'd never do that without a sizable money incentive that westchester cannot provide.
QUOTE]

Well Downtown New Rochelle is probably less than 5 mile from the New York City's northern border(Bronx) so theorectically you could get a bus to the Dyre Ave line (#5 IRT) and get to Manhattan that way. Don't know if it easy and I don't know if it is cheaper, but, DT New Rochelle is probably closer to that subway stations and perhaps the 241 street station(#2 IRT) than parts of Queens, surprise,surprise !

[Scruffy]

absolutley true. used to live in whitestone and north flushing and there is no subway up there. long bus ride. i feel for those in Queens who live in Bayside, Little Neck and douglaston. they are shit out of luck

[Crawford]

absolutley true. used to live in whitestone and norh flushing and there is no subway up there. long bus ride. i feel for those in Queens who live in Bayside, Little Neck and douglaston. they are shit out of luck

Bayside, Little Neck and Douglaston have 24-hour rail service through LIRR. Obviously it's more expensive than the subway but many employers (such as mine) subsidize commutes.

On weekends, commuter rail is comparable to subway fares because of Cityticket.

http://mta.info/mta/cityticket.htm

[NYguy]

the subway will never be extended cause it would take the line outside of the NYC borders and they'd never do that without a sizable money incentive that westchester cannot provide.

The MTA wouldn't consider that a priority anyway. Consider how long its taken them to get the 2nd Ave line going. And the people in Co-op City were long ago promised an extension of the 6 line.


I got pics of Renaissance Plaza yesterday and am on my way now to New Rochelle before work to check out Trump and Avalon 2.

Waiting on the pics. I was planning to get up there myself, but have been busy lately. And I'll be away for a couple of weeks, so no way I could get to it before next month.

[NYguy]

On weekends, commuter rail is comparable to subway fares because of Cityticket.

http://mta.info/mta/cityticket.htm

Comparible to subway fares maybe, but not frequency. Either way though, they all provide some type of service into Manhattan, which is part of the reason its the center of the universe.

[Scruffy]

Renaissance Plaza as of August 1.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00733.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00737.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00738.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00756.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00766.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00778.jpg

5 stories of i think underground parking
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00785.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00848.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00801.jpg

And some city center
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00847.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00875.jpg

Entrance to Trump's tower
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00725.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00729.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00730.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00731.jpg

The other city center tower
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00854.jpg

2 pics i took months ago
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i210/Scruffy69/a32.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i210/Scruffy69/a29.jpg

the big 3
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00873.jpg

[Scruffy]

TRUMP NEW ROCHELLE
as of August 2. Officially topped out the day prior

Currently the tallest building in Westchester County
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00896.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00908.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00909.jpg

Retail space on the ground level including a bridge that will connect to New Roc City across the street
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00930.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00940.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00931.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00952.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00968.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00969.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00987.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00992.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00993.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC01024.jpg

For the first 19 years of my life growing up in the vicinity of New Rochelle, this little buildng with the K (Kaufman Tower) was the tallest building in New Rochelle. I loved that tower. Now absolutley being dominated by the powerhouse New Roc is turning into. I like that too
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC01022.jpg

[Scruffy]

Avalon 2 New Rochelle August 2

With Avalon 1 on the right. Avalon was the previous tallest in the city prior to Trump Plaza at New Rochelle
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00916.jpg

Unfortunatley its the same shape as the 1st Avalon
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00976.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00985.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00997.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00999.jpg

Currently up to the 16th floor
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC01005.jpg

[NYguy]

Renaissance Plaza as of August 1.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00738.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00778.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00801.jpg


Wow, thanks for the pics! Its amazing what's taking place up there in Westchester...

[NYguy]

TRUMP NEW ROCHELLE
as of August 2. Officially topped out the day prior

Currently the tallest building in Westchester County
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00896.jpg


http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00987.jpg


http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00993.jpg




Again, excellent shots. You've represented both cities (New Rochelle, White Plains) very well. Hopefully you will keep us updated?

[CGP124]

Now if only Stamford would get off it's ass and match that...

Great Building though, makes a real impression from 95

[Scruffy]

Again, excellent shots. You've represented both cities (New Rochelle, White Plains) very well. Hopefully you will keep us updated?

As much as possible. I dont have a car and only once in a blue moon get to borrow my roommates car when he has a day off. But thanks for the compliment

[Scruffy]

Now if only Stamford would get off it's ass and match that...

Great Building though, makes a real impression from 95

Seriously Stamford has to get its ass in gear. First CT placee. then that died. Then that other company wanted a tower at that lot, but no foward movement. now trump's tower is promising but no further news. that atlantic street tower stalled. Can anything get built in Stamford now??

[hoosier]

Great photographs. How many skylines are there now in the NYC metroplitan area now?

I count seven:

Midtown
Battery
Brooklyn
Jersey City
Newark
New Rochelle
White Plains

[Scruffy]

i'd include stamford. it does have a skyline. just not any signature highrises.

[Scruffy]

and within a couple years you have to put Long Island City in that because its awesome what its there, already under construction, and especially what is planned

[hoosier]

i'd include stamford. it does have a skyline. just not any signature highrises.

That is true. I have driven through Stamford on I-95 before and the city does have a very urban feel to it with several 10+ story buildings.

[Antares41]

Great photographs. How many skylines are there now in the NYC metroplitan area now?

I count seven:

Midtown
Battery
Brooklyn
Jersey City
Newark
New Rochelle
White Plains

You'll be adding Long Island City (Queens) to that list in next 5 years.:banana:

[Antares41]

Oooops ! LIC was already mentioned. Maybe(and this is a big maybe) something will happen in Yonkers, after all it is the 4 or 5th largest city in NY State.

[NYguy]

Great photographs. How many skylines are there now in the NYC metroplitan area now?

I count seven:

Midtown
Battery
Brooklyn
Jersey City
Newark
New Rochelle
White Plains

There are others, but nothing major going on...

[patrick10801]

http://newrochelleny.com/church/III.%20C.%20Visual%20Aesthetics.pdf

Link to New Rochelle's Church/Division project under Simone- DEIS w/ renderings at end of document.

[patrick10801]

Scruffy wrote
"I would so much prefer a subway extension to Westchester cause as fast or not fast as metro north is, its insanely expensive and that cant be argued with. But the subway will never be extended cause it would take the line outside of the NYC borders and they'd never do that without a sizable money incentive that westchester cannot provide."

Someone purchasing a 1.5 million dollar condo doesn't mind the added expense of $100/month over a subway pass (which will only get you from Park Slope to GCT in 35-40 minutes). The comforts of Metro North get you from NR to GCT is 28 or 31 minutes depending on the train (express or local).

A subway extended to New Rochelle will take you about an hour into the GCT.

[NYguy]

A subway extended to New Rochelle will take you about an hour into the GCT.

And about 50 years to get built, if recent history is any indication...

[NYguy]

A 28-page White Plains special in the Daily News
http://www.print2webcorp.com/news/nydailynews/WhitePlains/20060924/p01.asp

http://www.print2webcorp.com/news/nydailynews/WhitePlains/20060924/img/p01.jpg

[NYguy]

Journal News

White Plains welcomes 44-story towers


By RICHARD LIEBSON
THE JOURNAL NEWS

http://cmsimg.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BH&Date=20061004&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=610040367&Ref=AR&Profile=1018&title=1

Rita Santos, who works for the city of White Plains, takes a photo from
the 41st floor of the Renaissance Tower in White Plains.


WHITE PLAINS — The city put on the Ritz yesterday in a lavish "topping-off"
ceremony to celebrate completion of the skeletal top floor of the Ritz-Carlton
Westchester hotel and condominium project being built by developer Louis
Cappelli.

At 44 stories reaching almost 500 feet into the sky, the mammoth
Mamaroneck Avenue structure is said to be the tallest building between New
York City and Boston.

"It's way, way up there," said Marcus Grimes, as cast members of the
upcoming Broadway musical "The Times They Are A-Changin' " sang Bob Dylan tunes
in nearby Fountain Park during the celebration. "You know it's
going to be expensive."

Cappelli's $400 million Renaissance Square project will feature two luxury
condo towers with the hotel in the middle. The complex also will house
meeting spaces, a health spa, a swimming pool and upscale restaurants.
Renaissance Square is expected to open in 2008.

"It's just extraordinary to see the change in this great capital of
Westchester," Gov. George Pataki said during brief remarks on the 41st floor,
where VIPs and reporters gathered to gawk at views of Manhattan, Long
Island Sound, the Palisades and other landmarks.

Glancing toward the southeast, one could see the 39-story Trump Plaza
under construction by Cappelli and Donald Trump in New Rochelle that was
until yesterday the tallest building in Westchester County. New Rochelle, like
White Plains, is in the midst of a development boom, with several other
skyscrapers being planned and the AvalonBay Communities project under construction.

Cappelli "is rebuilding the downtowns of some of our oldest communities —
White Plains, New Rochelle and soon, Yonkers — bringing life and
excitement," Pataki said. "This is an example of smart growth."

Mayor Joseph Delfino pointed out that Renaissance Square is the latest in a
series of retail, business and residential projects that have reshaped the city's downtown
in the past six years. Those include Cappelli's City Center
with its movies and stores, a Stop & Shop supermarket, a Fortunoff and
Trump Tower condominiums.

"Today we celebrate the changing times of the city of White Plains," Delfino
said. "I can't help but feel a sense of satisfaction and excitement. The Ritz-
Carlton adds a rich level of sophistication to our city."

Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano apparently agreed, saying
before the ceremony that the five-star hotel "fills a tremendous niche in Westchester."

"We have some tremendous hotels here already, but business executives I
talk to say that the Ritz Carlton really raises the bar and fills a need," he said.

Cappelli said his developments in White Plains and New Rochelle have
attracted $1.4 billion in private investments in the
past four years. He said that would not have been possible without the cooperation of state and local
governments and agencies.

"This is a very important day for me because this is the most ambitious
project I've done. The building is going up and it's starting to sell," he said
before the ceremony, adding that about $30 million worth of luxury condo
space in the new tower has been sold with no advertising and before
yesterday's official opening of the sales office.

Simon F. Cooper, president and chief executive officer of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company,
said the White Plains development was "the product of
(Cappelli's) dream and vision."

"White Plains was certainly not big on Ritz-Carlton's agenda" before Cappelli
persuaded the company to sign on to the project, Cooper said.

"We're thrilled to be part of the renaissance of White Plains," he said, "and
we still strive to become an integral part of the community. If we're not
serving the community, then we're not doing our job."

__________________________________________________________

About the Ritz-Carlton Westchester

Location: The building towers over Main Street and Mamaroneck Avenue.

Hotel: Luxury accommodations featuring 123 rooms, 10,000-square-foot spa
and fitness center, and 10,000 square feet of meeting and special events
space.

Restaurants: A two-story restaurant fronting on Main Street and a rooftop
restaurant with views of Manhattan.

Residences: 44-story luxury tower with 181 condos and 32 furnished suites.
The condos range from 1,200 to 5,200 square feet.

Condo price: From $700,000 to $3.5 million.

[NYguy]

Journal News

http://www.nyjnews.com/openphotos/small-sh100306topoff06.jpg

View of The Renaissance Tower in White Plain, photographed Oct. 3, 2006. Developer Louis Cappelli held a "topping off" ceremony earlier in the day at what will be the county's tallest building. ( Seth Harrison / The Journal News )


http://www.nyjnews.com/openphotos/small-sh100306topoff05.jpg

White Plains police officer Jim McCann stands on the 41st floor of the Renaissance Tower in White Plains Oct. 3, 2006. McCann was stationed high above White Plains as government officials, including Gov. George Pataki, joined developer Louis Cappelli for a "topping off" ceremony


http://www.nyjnews.com/openphotos/small-sh100306topoff03.jpg

Gov. George Pataki enjoys the view from the 41st floor of the Renaissance Tower in White Plains


http://www.nyjnews.com/openphotos/small-sh100306topoff02.jpg

White Plains police officers Jim McCann, left, and Rory Brannigan stand on the 41st floor of the Renaissance Tower in White Plains Oct. 3, 2006.

[Scruffy]

At 44 stories reaching almost 500 feet into the sky, the mammoth
Mamaroneck Avenue structure is said to be the tallest building between New
York City and Boston.

Except for three 500 foot plus towers in Hartford which is between NY and Boston. regardless, this is all really good for White Plains. Ever since Capelli finished off the City Center, the downtown area has blossomed again. There is actual foot traffic. its great. I just hope that New Rochelle follows suit because their downtown area is the pits for a city its size and supposed prestige. boarded up windows and 99 cent stores. hopefully with the new developments there, something will happen. But what would i gice to be able to visit the top of these towers and take some pics.

[NYguy]

Except for three 500 foot plus towers in Hartford which is between NY and Boston.

Well, you know with the media nothing really exists between NY and Boston.

[patrick10801]

LET'S HOPE MY HOMETOWN HAS THE TALLEST IN WESTCHESTER!!!! THESE ARE GOING UP DIAGONALLY ACROSS THE STREET FROM ME, UP ONE BLOCK. LOOKS LIKE THE N.R. COUNCIL IS GOING TO APPROVE THIS BASED ON PRELIMINARY CHATTER


Cappelli aims higher in New Rochelle
By ALEX PHILIPPIDIS :: October 13, 2006

Cappelli Enterprises is asking the New Rochelle City Council to add five stories to the two apartment towers planned as part of LeCount Square, the $500 million project proposed for the downtown block bordered by LeCount Place, Anderson and Huguenot streets and North Avenue.


Joseph V. Apicella, senior vice president of Cappelli Enterprises Inc., blamed higher-than-expected acquisition and construction costs for the request. He said it cost $32 million to acquire the several commercial parcels comprising the 2.2-acre project – compared with $12 million budgeted.


Apicella also said Cappelli needed a larger project to improve the project’s return on investment since construction costs have risen 25 percent in the past three years. Earlier this year developer Martin Ginsburg and Manhattan builder A.J. Rotunde made the same argument successfully when they asked and won approvals from White Plains for five more stories for their planned $200 million complex The Pinnacle.


LeCount Square would consist of 1.1 million square feet of space configured in a three-story retail “podium, atop which would rise the project’s apartment towers. The project would contain 371 dwelling units, 180,917 square feet of retail space, 21,560 square feet of restaurant space, a 172-key hotel with unspecified number of residences, and 189,924 square feet of office space.


“We’re talking to Starwood,” Apicella said – as in White Plains-based Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., which is searching Westchester and Connecticut for a new headquarters office site. “Boy would I love to lure Starwood to this site.”


He said LeCount Square would allow Starwood to locate in one place offices and a new hotel-residences project for Starwood’s W brand: “That’s something we’re considering.”


Earlier this year Starwood lost out to The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company L.L.C. for a deal to operate the hotel and residences within Cappelli’s $400 million Renaissance Square, now under construction in White Plains.


Talks are also in progress with Target Stores Inc. to anchor the retail portion, Apicella said.



(Top of Page)

[Dale]

^ Sounds like the media discoverd that Hartford exists. Now they have little choice but to go higher.

[NYguy]

LET'S HOPE MY HOMETOWN HAS THE TALLEST IN WESTCHESTER!!!! THESE ARE GOING UP DIAGONALLY ACROSS THE STREET FROM ME, UP ONE BLOCK.

Cool, maybe you can get some photos?

[NYguy]

More news on Westchester's new skyscrapers from the Journal News

Worker hurt at Cappelli site in White Plains is out of hospital

By KEITH EDDINGS
October 24, 2006


WHITE PLAINS - A worker who fell 10 to 15 feet while trying to lash down plywood blowing through the open skeleton of the 46-story Ritz-Carlton tower during a windstorm Friday was released from Westchester Medical Center yesterday. It was at least the third accident to close Main Street since work began at the site 15 months ago.

The worker, Steve Feinstein of Merrick, on Long Island, a manager for developer Louis Cappelli, fell through an opening on the 32nd floor when a wind gust picked up a sheet of plywood he was attempting to hold down, police said. Feinstein left the hospital wearing a back brace and promising to be back on the job shortly, but would not discuss the accident.

Cappelli said yesterday that workers began securing the Ritz tower at 221 Main St. - which recently became the tallest building in Westchester - several hours before the storm hit, and left the building believing they had finished the job as the wind mounted. But Feinstein and a handful of others went back up after a plywood sheet blew from the tower onto Main Street. A hostess at Zanaro's restaurant said it tore an awning from an outside wall.

"There was a woman who came in here - she said it almost hit her," the hostess, Kellie Ramos, said yesterday.

About the time Feinstein was struggling with the plywood, city officials were ordering the crew out of the tower as winds reached 40 mph, said Deputy Building Commissioner Daman Amadio.

"They told us it was extremely windy up there, they could hardly move around," he said. "It wasn't worth putting people in harm's way to search for this potentially loose construction material, so we told them to come back down."

Police then closed several blocks of Main Street and Mamaroneck Avenue from 5 until 10 p.m., leaving Zanaro's and several other businesses without customers for the night.

Police also closed streets around the construction site for several hours on May 8, when a load of setting concrete spilled onto a parked car, and again for an afternoon in August to allow emergency crews to rescue a worker injured in a fall.

Yesterday, Cappelli defended safety at the prominent downtown site, where, he said, 600 people are working up to 50 hours a week.

"On this site alone, in the past 15 months, I'm going to approximate there's been about 1.6 million man-women hours worked," Cappelli said. "And when you look at the injuries, which we want to keep to zero, it speaks for itself that we strive to make it an extremely safe work site. All 600 people, they're on the job, they're 450 feet in the air."

Amadio supported Cappelli's assessment.

"We've been fortunate on this project," Amadio said. "The number of accidents has been minimal."

Incident reports from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration were not immediately available yesterday.

Cappelli is Westchester's busiest developer. He recently topped off another condominium he is building with Donald Trump in New Rochelle, where he also is proposing a 50-story tower, and he is a partner in a $3.1 billion redevelopment proposal for Yonkers' downtown and its waterfront.

Three years ago, Cappelli opened City Center in White Plains.

In May, a 40-year-old father of three died after falling through an air shaft while working on a housing complex that Cappelli is building in Yorktown. The worker, Vincent Bernardone, worked for Sage Contracting, a flooring subcontactor at the site, a spokesman for Cappelli said.

[NYguy]

Westchester.com

Record Sales At 2 Cappelli Projects

Tuesday, 14 November 2006
White Plains, NY

Louis Cappelli's two largest residential developments —The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton, Westchester in White Plains and Trump Plaza in New Rochelle – are experiencing very strong sales activity.

Westchester’s tallest building -- the 44-story Residences at The Ritz-Carlton, Westchester -- is also the area’s fastest-selling new condominium with more than $100 million in sales since the Sales Center officially opened October 3.

“Our initial projections were based on a 12-month Phase 1 sellout which would have amounted to $25 million in sales for October. We’ve done four times that which is truly incredible,” said Mr. Cappelli. “We were confident that the Ritz-Carlton brand and the unique lifestyle that goes with it would strike a responsive chord with buyers, but what we’re experiencing is amazing.”

To date, 35 percent of The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton, Westchester have been sold -- more than quadruple the number projected for the first month. “What’s also impressive is that we have been able to accomplish this without offering buyer incentives of any kind. In fact, we have had two price increases already,” Mr. Cappelli said. Prices for the Residences at The Ritz-Carlton, Westchester currently range from $750,000 to over $6 million.

Located in the heart of downtown White Plains, The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton, Westchester includes 181 condominium residences and 32 Atelier furnished suites. The residences range in size from 1,200 to 5,200 square feet and offer spacious floor plans from 1-bedroom, 1.5 baths to 3-bedroom, 3.5 baths. Also planned are Penthouse and Sky Club levels. Owners at The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton, Westchester will have exclusive access to a wide array of The Ritz-Carlton’s legendary five-star amenities and services including maid service, room service, concierge and luxury spa, to name a few. Owners will also benefit from The Ritz-Carlton privileges around the world.

“People understand the Ritz-Carlton brand and want to live it. The entire lifestyle package that Ritz-Carlton offers is unique,” Mr. Cappelli said. He noted that the majority of the initial buyers are “empty nesters” who are selling a home in Westchester. The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton, Westchester is also attracting young professionals who work in New York City. “Until now, you would have had to live in a major urban center like Manhattan, Chicago or Montreal to be able to enjoy this style of living. Now, it’s here in suburban New York and the buyers are responding.”

The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton, Westchester is the first of two towers being built as part of the 940,000-square-foot Renaissance Square complex being developed by Mr. Cappelli. The towers rise from The Ritz-Carlton, Westchester, a 10-level hotel comprised of 123 rooms, a 10,000-square-foot luxury spa and fitness center,10,000 square feet of meeting and special event space and a two-story glass “winter garden” restaurant fronting on Main Street.

A second restaurant will be located on the 42nd floor of the tower.

“Over the next couple of weeks we expect to finalize a deal that will bring a prominent Manhattan restaurant to the winter garden overlooking the plaza and fountains at Main Street and Mamaroneck Avenue,” Mr. Cappelli said. “This will be a well known, trendy restaurant that will bring a new level of sophistication to the downtown White Plains dining experience.”

Not to be outdone by the strong sales activity in White Plains, Mr. Cappelli said his company, working in partnership with Donald Trump, has also been seeing very strong sales at Trump Plaza in downtown New Rochelle. He said the 40-story tower with its spectacular views of Long Island Sound has now passed the halfway point in sales. With eight contracts signed in the last two weeks alone, 87 residences in the luxury high-rise condominium tower have now been sold.

“We projected being 30 percent sold at this point and we’ve already reached 50 percent. In six months our sales have passed $75 million. This is a tremendous achievement and makes a very positive statement about the value and viability of the rapidly emerging downtown New Rochelle market,” Mr. Cappelli said.

Roughly half the buyers at Trump Plaza are from Manhattan and others are coming from Riverdale as well as neighboring towns such as Pelham, Larchmont and Scarsdale. “Buyers are attracted by the combination of the Trump luxury lifestyle, the spectacular waterfront views and the convenient and quick access to Manhattan. Downtown New Rochelle has turned the corner and is being discovered as a great place to live,” said Mr. Cappelli.

Trump Plaza offers a wide array of first-class amenities including an elegant marble lobby, indoor swimming pool and full-service health club, a business center, a rooftop garden and 24-hour valet parking and concierge services. Prices at Trump Plaza range from $500,000 to over $3 million. Trump Plaza is scheduled to be completed and open next September.

Observing the housing market in general, Mr. Cappelli concluded: “There may be a slowdown in some locations around the country, but we’re certainly not seeing it in White Plains and New Rochelle. The well-informed buyers know that interest rates are low and that now is actually a very good time to be buying a home.”

[Antares41]

Move to highrise construction.

[biam2]

I think the two towers in New Rochell have been topped off. There are great veiws of the towers from Mount Vernon especially from the intercection of Sanford blvd and Columbus Ave, also from the fulton st bridge (near the train station). And staying on the subject of Mount Vernon a new 20 story condo tower has been aproved. Heres a link to the city clerks page (includes renderings at the bottom) http://www.cmvny.com/departments/city_clerks/alexander.asp

[H-man]

when i figure out how to put pics from my phone onto my computer i can get some really good shots of city center and reniassiance in WP

[NYguy]

when i figure out how to put pics from my phone onto my computer i can get some really good shots of city center and reniassiance in WP

Cool. Westchester deserves more action in the forumn.

[NYguy]

I think the two towers in New Rochell have been topped off. There are great veiws of the towers from Mount Vernon especially from the intercection of Sanford blvd and Columbus Ave, also from the fulton st bridge (near the train station). And staying on the subject of Mount Vernon a new 20 story condo tower has been aproved. Heres a link to the city clerks page (includes renderings at the bottom) http://www.cmvny.com/departments/city_clerks/alexander.asp

Thanks, lots of info there. I think that tower would have looked better designed as two instead of one massive tower. Still a nice project.

[Scruffy]

the super fast presales on the ritz are great news for White Plains. Now all the projects that were teetering back and forth between a go and death can be pushed forward. the pinnacle being the biggest i think.

[StatenIslander237]

I can't believe it! Mount Vernon is in on the deverlopment in westchester too?
everyone seems to want a hand in on this boom.
I'm waiting for Yonkers now.

[NYguy]

I can't believe it! Mount Vernon is in on the deverlopment in westchester too?
everyone seems to want a hand in on this boom.
I'm waiting for Yonkers now.

Yonkers has a development going on the river...

[tyork]

Seriously Stamford has to get its ass in gear. First CT placee. then that died. Then that other company wanted a tower at that lot, but no foward movement. now trump's tower is promising but no further news. that atlantic street tower stalled. Can anything get built in Stamford now??

Trumps tower got denied, RBS Greenwich Capital is building their headquarters on the ct place site. Cappelli wants to build a Ritz-Carlton renaissance square looking building in Stamford… but we will see if it gets approved.