Cappelli, a principal of Cappelli Enterprises of Valhalla and the developer of New Roc City that has helped turn around the fortunes of New Rochelle, purchased the former Macy's site from Tishman Speyer Properties. The New York City developer put the property on the market for sale earlier this year.
White Plains Mayor Joseph Delfino and members of the City Council were on hand for the session on Apr. 24 to hear Cappelli outline his plan for 495,000 sf of mixed use space, slightly larger than Tishman's White Plains Town Center plan, which called for 442,000 sf of new development.
Cappelli's plan differs from Tishman's in one major way; the developer wants to build 500 units of luxury rental housing in two 18-story towers on Conroy Drive. The development may also include some townhome units. The residential component of the project would include underground parking on two levels that could accommodate 750 vehicles. Council members seemed pleased residential housing had been added to the mix.
Tishman had proposed building rental housing at the site, but later dropped those plans. Cappelli says he expects to charge between $2,700 and $2,800 a month in rent and needs to have Conroy Drive blocked off from through traffic to give the development a sense of place similar to projects like Battery Park City in Manhattan.
In the main building Cappelli says he would develop a total of 340,000 sf of retail, 60,000 sf of restaurant space and 95,000 sf earmarked for a multiplex movie theater. Part of the main building will include a 300- to 500-seat community theater. Now in negotiations with five movie theater operating companies, he expects the theater to have between 16 screens and 21 screens with 3,500 to 5,400 seats.
Among the prospective tenants for the development include Target, Circuit City, Old Navy, the Gap, Sears Great Outdoors (an interior design store), as well as entertainment-oriented retailers such as record stores and booksellers.
Also included in the development plan is demolition of the Main-Martine-parking garage on the corner of Conroy Drive and Martine Avenue. In its place will rise a multi-level structure that can accommodate 2,038 vehicles.
Cappelli is hoping to fast track the approval process and receive a revised site plan approval based on the city's prior approval of Tishman's project last year. Similar to the earlier proposal, Cappelli seeks the approval of $23 million in city funding for the garage. In addition, he said he would be looking for economic development-related assistance from Westchester County and New York State as well as sales and mortgage tax exemptions.
He believes that he can demolish the Macy's site in about three to four months. Once final approvals are obtained, Cappelli projects that the entire project would take 18 months to complete.
"We can get started on this right now," Cappelli told the Council members.
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John Jordan
John Jordan is a veteran journalist with 36 years of print and digital media experience.
