"We're hoping that by our August 7 meeting this project will be approved by the Common Council," Mayor Delfino told attendees of the May 17 meeting of the Westchester County Board of Realtors' Commercial Investment Division.
The mayor also revealed that Cappelli now wants to develop 600 rental apartment units on Conroy Drive. When Cappelli originally proposed his mixed-use plan on April 24, he told members of the Common Council that he was to build 500 rental units. Mayor Delfino noted at the CID meeting, held at the Board of Realtors' offices here, that Cappelli now wants to build three buildings of 200 apartments each or two buildings that would house 300 apartments apiece.
Cappelli is trying to expedite approvals since his project mirrors in some respects the scope of the Tishman Speyer Properties' proposal that was approved by the city last year. However, that venture failed because it could not secure a movie theater operator as a tenant. Cappelli said that he acquired the former Macy's property in April for "somewhere north of $50 million."
The mayor also related that Cappelli officials have informed the city that it is very close to signing a deal with a movie theater operator for its project. Mayor Delfino also said that Cappelli could begin the demolition of the former Macy's store on Mamaroneck Avenue and Main Street by the middle of June.The residential component of the plan will include underground parking on two levels that could accommodate 750 vehicles.
In the main building at the former Macy's site, Cappelli plans to develop a total of 340,000 sf of retail, 60,000 sf of restaurant space and 95,000 sf for a multi-plex movie theater. Part of the main building will include a 300-500 seat community theater. Also included in the development plan is the demolition of the Main-Martine-parking garage on the corner of Conroy Drive and Martine Avenue.
A new parking structure will be built to accommodate 2,038 vehicles. Cappelli will be seeking the approval of $23 million in city funding for the retail parking garage component of the venture.
In his presentation, Mayor Delfino said that while the city's office vacancy rate has dramatically improved over the past two years from more than 30% to less than 15% now, the influx of new corporations has created one problem -- the lack of hotel space in the city. He continued, that corporations in and around Downtown here are booking rooms for their guests at hotels from as far away as Stamford, CT.
"If anybody wants to invest in hotels, boy we sure could use some in our city and there are some sites that we can recommend," Mayor Delfino related to the commercial brokers. "With these corporations coming into our city what I have heard is, 'We can't bring people in, there is no place for them to stay.'"
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John Jordan
John Jordan is a veteran journalist with 36 years of print and digital media experience.
