Digest developers mull next move as New Castle quashes condo project
By ALEX PHILIPPIDIS :: December 13, 2006

The South Norwalk, Conn., developers that envisioned building a new older-adult condo complex within The Reader’s Digest Association Inc. campus in Chappaqua got anything but holiday cheer from New Castle officials on Tuesday.

New Castle’s Town Board killed the $200 million Chappaqua Crossing project by refusing to consider further a “scope” of list of topics to be addressed during a planned study of the project’s environmental effects. The study was to be done by consultants of developers Summit Development and Greenfield Partners L.L.C., which purchased the campus from Reader’s Digest in November 2004 for $59 million.

Now Summit and Greenfield are pondering their next move. The developers have ruled out another residential plan and could instead pursue an office plan – though they have yet to decide whether to propose any new space beyond the 171,000 square feet available on site. Of that space, the Reader’s Digest occupies 224,000 square feet while the remainder has been marketed through Cushman & Wakefield Inc., so far with no completed leases.

“It is extremely disappointing for the owners of the property,” said Geoff Thompson, a spokesman for Summit and Greenfield, which are pursuing development of the campus under the entity SG Chappaqua L.L.C. “We were prepared to go ahead and make the investment of time and money to really, fully study our plan and variations of the plan and other approaches.”

In one sense, Thompson said, “the Town Board did us a favor in the sense that they did not let us go through what could have been an environmental impact study that could have [taken] years.”

SG Chappaqua spent $1 million on preliminary studies and other non-construction “soft” costs associated with the project.

The developers have not precluded a possible challenge to the Town Board’s action through a state Supreme Court lawsuit under Article 78 of Civil Procedure Law and Rules.

“I don’t think we’ve ruled out anything. We haven’t drawn any conclusions as to what we’ll do,” Thompson said.

New Rochelle to name Echo Bay developer Friday
By ALEX PHILIPPIDIS :: December 13, 2006

New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson will announce Friday morning which of four interested developers the city will choose to redevelop the city’s Echo Bay section just east of downtown, and potentially offering panoramic views of Long Island Sound.

The four developers presented varying mixes of residential, small retail and open-space uses for roughly 25 acres of land around Echo Bay – to be cobbled from about 20 city-owned acres, including the 2.9-acre New Rochelle Armory, and as many private acres as developers can buy from private owners.

Interested developers:

Alex Twining’s Manhattan-based Twining Properties. Nearly a decade ago Twining oversaw the development of the first 412-unit phase of Avalon on the Sound, a rental apartment community developed by AvalonBay Communities Inc. of Alexandria, Va.

Arthur Collins II’s Collins Enterprises L.L.C. of Stamford, which is building the $110 million, 294-uunit second phase of the Hudson Park at Yonkers rental apartment complex. The 266-apartment first phase was completed in 2004. Forest City Enterprises-Residential Group, which in October won a permit from the town of Mamaroneck to build a 139-unit apartment building on Madison Avenue.

A joint venture of Florida-based WCI Communities Inc., which has local offices in Valhalla and was once run by Mitchell C. Hochberg; and G&S Investors L.L.C. of Old Bethpage. G&S has completed the Target-anchored shopping center on Mount Vernon’s East Sandford Boulevard as well as The Waterfront at Port Chester retail center.

For details on the competing presentations by the four developers interested in Echo Bay, check out the Business Journal’s July 10 report.

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