Port Chester Approves Former United Hospital Redevelopment

PORT CHESTER – The long-vacant former United Hospital property is poised to turn into 775 new rental apartments, retail space, a boutique hotel, plus assisted-living and memory-care units.

The redevelopment plan for more than 15 acres at 406 Boston Post Road won key village Board of Trustees approval this month.

Westchester has seen a trend in recent years of mixed-use redevelopments sprouting from, or being eyed for, vacant sites − former office complexes and other one-time uses converted to apartments with retail and amenities.

The Boston Post Road property, near Interstates 95 and 287, has been dormant for years with boarded windows, graffiti and safety concerns.

“In addition to hundreds of apartments, we’ll be creating attractive amenities that will be accessed through a much-improved streetscape along Boston Post Road,” Amy Rose, president and CEO of developer Rose Associates, said in a statement.

What the range of rents will be and if there's an estimated opening date for the housing and other aspects of the development weren't immediately known. Officials from Rose Associates, through a spokesperson, declined to comment further about the project's approval and about their plans beyond a news release.

The development includes:

• More than 18,000 square feet of retail space; specifics of what businesses it may eventually include weren't available;
• 90 independent-living apartments;
• 110 assisted- and memory-care units.

Village zoning requires 10% of the housing be affordable.

Rose Associates and BedRock Real Estate Partners, which in 2019 bought the property from Starwood Capital Group, plan to demolish several vacant buildings on site to make way for the redevelopment.

Building abatement and demolition are slated to start in in early 2023, according to the developer. Asbestos abatement in existing vacant buildings and site clean-up are part of the work, which is to include Brownfields site funding, according to this month's village trustees meeting.

Michael Adamo, Rose Associates managing director, told The Journal News/LoHud in March during a property tour, where the main hospital building was fenced off to prevent trespassers, that the building was "dark and dreary and surely not only we but I'm sure everyone else within the village are excited for the day that we bring the first construction vehicles and employees on-site to start demolishing those structures."

The hospital campus, at the site since 1914, closed there in 2005.

Efforts to rejuvenate the property proved challenging in ensuing years. Village officials cited safety as one reason for the need to do so, after a 14-year-old boy fell down an elevator shaft in 2017 and died.

Starwood Capital Group secured land-use approvals for its plans for the property, but sold it before work occurred on the site.

The current redevelopment site plan was submitted early last year.

The location "presents the village with an exceptional opportunity to redefine and reactivate a key gateway to the village and strengthen the local economy through the appropriately scaled redevelopment of the premises," Anthony Gioffre, lawyer for the developer, said in a January 2021 letter to village officials.

The Westchester County Planning Board submitted comments and took issue with parts of the development proposal in correspondence to village officials during the review process.

Village trustees were told on Oct. 17, when they gave key site-plan approval, the developer worked with officials on county Planning Board concerns, including design changes to increase pedestrian connectivity with Boston Post Road.

In the future, there's likely to be proposed subdivision of parcels that make up the property, such as for the hotel and assisted and independent living buildings, trustees were told.

SOURCE: Port Chester Approves Former United Hospital Redevelopment

About Rose Associates, Inc.

Based in New York, Rose Associates is a developer, owner and operator of premium residential properties. From planning a new development to managing day-to-day property operations, the Rose 360 Platform offers a full range of services designed to maximize the value of real estate. The firm oversees more than 26,000 units across New York, with approximately $2 billion in projects under development. Rose recently opened the historic skyscraper 70 Pine Street, which the firm is transforming into a luxury rental property with 644 residential units, 132 extend-stay apartments and a destination restaurant/lounge occupying the top four floors.