Forest City's New Rochelle project faces hurdles
July, 25, 2008
By any measure, Forest City Residential's proposed $450 million, 26-acre Echo Bay development in New Rochelle is a challenging one.
Extensive contamination requires a $20 million remediation, according to a city estimate. Although the site on Long Island Sound sits on an island-dotted bay that glows during the sunset, it is also located next door to a county wastewater treatment facility. And some local veterans threaten to fight the proposed demolition of the dilapidated armory building on the site.
To pull off the Echo Bay project, in May the city chose Forest City Residential, a division of Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises, which is also the parent company of Bruce Ratner's Forest City Ratner.
The possible use of eminent domain looms if property owners refuse to sell to Forest City Residential, much like Forest City Ratner relied on seizing private property for its massive and controversial Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn. The Ratner family is probably feeling confident following the U.S. Supreme Court's rejection last month of a petition by Atlantic Yards opponents. That petition would have granted a hearing to 11 property owners and tenants challenging the government's ability to seize private homes for development.
Forest City is no stranger in Westchester. Bruce Ratner managed to overcome strong opposition to Ridge Hill Village, the largest development project ever built in Yonkers.
Clearing the Echo Bay land in New Rochelle will be tricky. Some taxpayers oppose the city's proposal to float a $2.5 million bond to relocate a municipal garage for city trucks from the site, known as the City Yard, and on June 17, the City Council delayed a vote on the measure indefinitely. And it takes a so-called super majority -- five out of seven votes -- to authorize the borrowing.
In addition to a five-acre park, the plan calls for 62 townhouses, 42 condos, 606 luxury rental apartments (including some affordable units), 150,000 square feet of retail, a 20,000 square foot community space to replace the armory and two 150-room hotels.
"We selected Forest City after our RFP process because we were impressed by their vision for the site, their organizational depth and strength as well as their capacity to surmount some of the challenges this plan clearly presents," said Mayor Noam Bramson.
Even if the plan clears all the public hurdles, private landowners could hold out, which would probably prompt eminent domain proceedings. That kind of fight could touch a nerve in New Rochelle, the site of a fierce battle between residents of a gritty residential and industrial neighborhood and furniture giant Ikea, which sought to demolish dozens of private homes to make way for a megastore. The company abandoned the plan in 2001.
Along Route 1, also called Main Street, the waterfront views are blocked for the entire length of the proposed Echo Bay property.
Other developers have been bullish on the city, including Avalon Bay, which built Avalon-on-the-Sound, and Donald Trump, whose Trump Plaza opened at 175 Huguenot Street last October. The new towers create a skyline visible from many miles away.
The new luxury developments occupy a city with typical urban problems: riots rocked the New Roc City commercial development during Easter 2007. Last October, a brawl broke out downtown between dozens of teenagers.
Bramson said that "notwithstanding the incidents that get attention, the overall crime rate is the lowest it's been in 40 years; we're one of the five safest cities of its size in America."
The plan will inevitably change over time, said Abe Naparstek, director of development at Forest City Residential.
"If the deal is easy -- the site is entitled and ready to go -- that's something you pay for," he said. "We're going to work with the community, work through the issues and create and add more value."
In addition to the City Yard and the Armory, the Echo Bay site includes a property now classified as a contaminated brownfield formerly owned by Con Edison, as well as a McDonald's, a Honda dealership and a cement factory. The city has declared it an Urban Renewal Area, which can facilitate any potential eminent domain proceedings.
"We hope and expect that will be a last resort," Bramson said. "We expect the properties to be acquired consensually and it's not a step any community takes lightly, but there are significant public benefits that this project presents."