There were impassioned pleas from neighbors for and against a proposed new development at the former White Plains Linen site during a community meeting at the Field Library Wednesday (Aug. 13). The housing project’s developers hosted the event for their property at 418 N. Division Street.
The Stagg Group, a builder of affordable housing in the Bronx and lower Westchester for nearly two decades, seeks to transform the vacant site between Highland Avenue and North Division into a mixed-use multi-residential building with 160 units.
About 25 Peekskill residents gathered at the library at 6 p.m. to hear the group’s plans, ask questions, and share feedback. Councilman Brian Fassett, who previously recommended the group host an information session outside city hall, was in attendance.
Jay Martino, senior vice president for the Stagg Group, presented the group’s vision to revitalize the vacant site with the aid of updated renderings and floorplans.
Developers propose 160 units across six floors with a combination of studios and one to three bedrooms, 200 interior parking spaces on the ground floor, about 4,300 square feet of commercial space, and a community room dedicated to the city and open to the general public.
“What we want to do is transform [it] into something that’s going to be more vibrant for the community,” Martino said. “Something that you’re not going to be ashamed to live around, something that’s not going to attract vagrants or rats or whatever else seems to migrate to the abandoned property. We want to turn this into something that you all can be proud of.”
Opinions among those in attendance were mixed. Those against the project in its current state shared concerns of the height of the structure, potential parking congestion, and opinions of the building not fitting the personality of the city. Those in favor said it could revitalize a blight to the city, clean up environmental contaminants at the site, and combat the housing crisis.
Fred Vanca, who noted he’s been a Peekskill resident for over 70 years and lives across from the site, said although he wanted to see something developed at the site, he believed the proposed housing structure was not a fit in a residential neighborhood.
“I put all my heart and my life in [my] house,” Vanca said. “I plan on passing it down to my son. I didn’t choose to live next to a six-story thing that’s going to put me in shade. I don’t want it built across from me. You build this next to my house, you could destroy what I worked my whole life for.”
Residents also raised the issue of parking on the street, particularly at the proposed building’s entrance on Constant Avenue. Attorney for the site Kathleen Bradshaw said developers have not applied to change any parking, any traffic direction, or anything on Constant Avenue.
(Bradshaw said a rendering depicting a two-way road on Constant Avenue, which is a one-way street, was an error and will be corrected.)
While the building has 200 parking spaces for more than 160 apartments, one resident who lives two blocks away from the site, John Hodgins, questioned if 200 spaces were enough for its residents. He pointed out that other Stagg Group buildings in lower Westchester and the Bronx are next to mass transit.
“Up here in Northern Westchester we don’t have that,” Hodgins said. “So when people move in — I don’t care if it’s a studio, one bedroom — you get a married couple moving in, those people are going to need two cars to work. You’re only putting 200 spaces per 160 units. You need at least, I would dare say, close to 300 spaces. You’d have to take another floor of that and make it more parking.”
Resident Leslie Phillip Lawler asked developers if there was a site plan to consolidate the four parcels within the over 40,000 square feet at 418 N. Division. Developers said they will be merged together into one taxed parcel.
Resident Jen Zawacki, who lives two blocks from the proposed development, said she was in favor of the project due to it providing housing amid a housing crisis and cleaning up hazardous materials currently in the space.
“I’m raising my two young kids here, and we actively avoid walking by this blighted block,” Zawacki said. “And I’m really thrilled to see something going in there and to see it occupied. I don’t like the idea of my kids growing up and seeing Peekskill being like blighted abandoned warehouses. I want them to see a revitalized and vibrant neighborhood.”
Martino responded to apprehensions regarding the six-story structure.
“Everybody thinks that the developer is going to get rich, he wants to build it bigger because he can get more revenue,” Martino said. “And that’s not the case in the world we live in today. There’s a threshold we have to achieve in order to make the project profitable, to do the project, and that’s where we are. That’s why it’s a six-story building.”
Another resident in favor, Alex Hanson, said she worked in housing and responded to those who believed the six-story building should be downsized. She noted that the state has term sheets and requirements developers need to meet, which may prevent them from, for example, building at three stories.
“I know that if we hold out for three stories, it is going to stay a blighted toxic site forever,” Hanson said. “We are in a housing crisis… I am a firm believer that we need more housing and that this would relieve pressure overall. And the compassionate thing to do is to build housing in our community.”
The initial area median income (AMI) for units at the apartment was proposed at 80 percent on June 2, then brought down to 70 percent on July 7. Bradshaw said they will probably land somewhere in 50 and 60 percent AMIs, which is Westchester County’s AMI, not local.
Resident Sepp Spenlinhauer, who is a lighting designer and husband to Councilman Fassett, criticized the building’s textures, facades, colors, and heights. He said the community was not against the development but that they want a development that feels connected and creates a sense of place.
“This is three-quarters of a block and one block on Constant that is just monotonous and Anywhere, USA, Spenlinhauer said. “And as much as I hear you use the words, ‘It has the personality of Peekskill,’ it does not have any identity. It has nothing unique and nothing that’s special.”
Councilman Fassett previously shared concerns with the building’s appearance at an initial presentation, which Stagg Group responded to in subsequent renderings.
Other concerns shared by residents included the impact more housing could have on schools that are “already overcrowded,” whether there would be enough gallons of water to support the building, and remediation plans for contaminants at the site.
Martino said the group hasn’t gotten to the engineering phase yet, which includes discussing the mechanical, plumbing, HVAC, and structural features. Bradshaw said a remediation plan is in the works, which Martino added would be a brownfield project and is a process of about four to five months.
“We see a revitalization, something that we want to contribute to,” Martino said in his opening remarks. “Our vision for Peekskill is to integrate our development into the historic fabric of Peekskill and contribute toward developing the deteriorated projects into something that can be useful and vibrant for the community.”
