The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

Chappaqua Crossing

Remember the Partisans

by

Chappaqua Resident Meryl Lefkowitz with her great uncle Michael Stoll, a Bielski partisan
Chappaqua Resident Meryl Lefkowitz with her great uncle Michael Stoll, a Bielski partisan

A packed audience recently gathered at the Dewitt Wallace auditorium at Chappaqua Crossing to watch The Bielski Brothers: Jerusalem in the Woods, a documentary film based on the lives of the Bielski partisans during the Holocaust. The event was sponsored by UJA-Federation of New York’s Westchester Women chapter in an effort to raise awareness about the remarkable story of the Bielski brothers who were Jewish partisans that survived in the Belorussian forest during World War II. The four Bielski brothers managed to rescue 1,200 Jews in the neighboring Jewish ghettos of Lida and Nowogrodek, the largest rescue effort by Jews for Jews in World War II.

Aron (Bielski) Bell, the last remaining survivor of the Bielski brothers, was in attendance at the event along with several other Bielski partisans.

Chappaqua resident and one of the event chair’s Meryl Lefkowitz has many relatives who were saved by the Bielski brothers. “My father’s family including my grandmother, her parents, brother, sister and cousin were all Holocaust survivors and Bielski partisans. “The Bielskis were close to my family and saved them as well as countless others by creating their community in the woods,” said Lefkowitz. “My grandmother and her brother and sister and cousin are all still alive and to this day they keep the memories and stories alive. We are here (a family of more than 50 of their descendants) because of their determination to survive.” The number of Bielski descendants is approximately 20,000, according to historians.

Laura Kleinhandler of Rye Brook, UJA-Federation’s Westchester Women Chair; Aron Bell; Michele Gregson of Chappaqua, UJA-Federation’s Westchester Women Vice Chair; and Alan Bell Photo courtesy of UJA-Federation of NY
Laura Kleinhandler of Rye Brook, UJA-Federation’s Westchester Women Chair; Aron Bell; Michele Gregson of Chappaqua, UJA-Federation’s Westchester Women Vice Chair; and Alan Bell Photo courtesy of UJA-Federation of NY

Lefkowitz’s great uncle Michael Stoll attended the event. His story is featured in the documentary. He was on a cattle car about to be transported to the Majdanek concentration camp from the Lida ghetto and jumped from the train along with his sister, Lefkowitz’s paternal grandmother and her paternal great grandfather. Remarkably they reunited with their mother and other sister in the woods who had already joined the Bielski brigade. “I am proud of who I am and where I have come from. These are amazing people with an unwavering will to live and prosper and an unbelievable story to tell,” commented Lefkowitz.

The story of the Bielski partisans was popularized in the 2008 Hollywood film Defiance starring Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber. The documentary film featured at the event follows the story of the Bielski brothers a Jewish farming family in the town of Stankiewicze. After the Nazis invaded their town and forced all Jews into the ghettos of Lida and Nowogrodek, three of the Bielski brothers escaped to the nearby forest. At first the brothers focused on just saving their immediate family members but eventually took it as their mission to save as many Jews as they could. With the brother’s farming background and intimate knowledge of the forest, they were able to ultimately evade the Germans and Belorussian collaborators.

Aron (Bielski) Bell, the last remaining Bielski Brother with his wife Henryka Bell
Aron (Bielski) Bell, the last remaining Bielski Brother with his wife Henryka Bell

Eventually with the help of some non-Jewish Belorusian friends they acquired guns and were soon able to obtain captured German and Soviet weapons and equipment supplied by Soviet partisans. The Bielski partisans actively scouted the Jewish ghettoes and helped several Jews escape. They constantly moved throughout the forest to avoid detection by the Nazis.

By 1943, the number of partisans in the Bielski brigade had increased to 700 Jews, and the Bielski brothers were fearful of the Nazis discovering their base so they relocated to a more remote part of the Naliboki Forest where they remained until their liberation. The partisans formed a Jewish community in this location dubbed “Jerusalem in the woods.” The refugees were organized by skill and they had cobblers, tailors, carpenters, leather workers, and blacksmiths all contributing to the overall well-being of the community. In addition, they even had a laundry, synagogue, infirmary and schoolhouse.

“This story is extraordinary in that the best of human qualities emerged in the darkest moments of history. The unanswered question surrounding the story of the four Bielski brothers whose efforts saved more than 1,200 Jews is how did they create a caring community in the midst of the Holocaust? Millie Jasper, Executive Director of the White Plains-based Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center, said: “It’s remarkable that the Bielski brothers created an environment where each member of the group chose not their personal survival, but the survival of the group.”

Stacey Pfeffer lives with her husband and three young children in Chappaqua. She has written for New York Family Magazine, Kveller.com, Westchester Parents and Inside Armonk. Both of her maternal grandparents were Holocaust survivors.

As One Town Resolves the HUD Dispute, Another Fights On

by

Affordable housing is being built on Old Route 22 in Armonk. Andrew Vitelli Photos.
Affordable housing is being built on Old Route 22 in Armonk. Andrew Vitelli Photos.

By Andrew Vitelli

“It’s really mind-boggling, if you think about it,” New Castle Supervisor Rob Greenstein says. Sitting just a stone’s throw from the site of the controversial Chappaqua Station housing project, Greenstein is referring to criticism of the town coming from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and from a monitor appointed following a 2009 settlement between HUD and Westchester County. “I think they should be singing our praises and holding us up as an example of doing more than our share. And instead, we’re criticized.”

In purely numerical terms, New Castle has more than carried its weight; even without Chappaqua Station, which Greenstein opposes, more than 30 units are in the pipeline. But the fight over Chappaqua Station, built on Hunts Lane between the railroad tracks and a Saw Mill Parkway exit ramp, has dragged on for years and put the town in the middle of a bitter fight between HUD and county leadership.

On Old Route 22 in Armonk, meanwhile, a row of freshly-built multifamily homes has sprung up, construction equipment sitting outside. In July, North Castle was removed from a list of municipalities facing legal action over their zoning laws and the concentration of multi-family housing within the municipality. The town’s presence on the list, the town’s supervisor says, had more to do with the lack of infrastructure throughout much of the town–along with the flooding of Kensico village a century ago–than any discriminatory intent on the town’s part, and in the end the HUD-appointed housing monitor agreed. “I’ve found them to be very receptive to our communications,” Supervisor Michael Schiliro says.

These towns are just two of more than 30 towns and villages impacted by the settlement, but their stories give a closer look at how the settlement has played out in many of these communities.

The Settlement

The housing settlement, which has cast a shadow over Westchester politics for nearly a decade and brought the county to the center of a battle over federalism, government overreach, and allegations of modern-day segregation, was signed in August 2009 by then-County Executive Andrew Spano. In 2007, the Anti-Discrimination Center, a Manhattan based non-profit which fights housing discrimination, sued the county over accusations that the county had been collecting federal funds earmarked for low-income housing without meeting the requirements necessary to receive these funds. In February 2009, U.S. District Court Judge Denise Cote ruled that the county had failed to conduct an analysis of impediments to address claims of housing discrimination. Facing the possibility of liabilities of more than $150 million, Spano had no choice but to agree to the settlement, under which Westchester admitted no wrongdoing but agreed to commit $51.6 million to building 750 affordable housing units, mostly in municipalities, including New Castle and North Castle, with few black or Latino residents.

That November, Rob Astorino, a Republican and an opponent of the settlement, unseated Spano to become county executive. While Astorino vowed to comply with the settlement, the last six and a half years have been marked by recurring conflict between HUD and the county. There have been spats over which projects should be counted towards the settlement, over legislation banning landlords from rejecting people with government housing vouchers, and over the county’s effort to press towns and villages to adopt a model zoning ordinance.

A continuing source of strife has been the county’s obligation to conduct an analysis of impediments, including those based on race or resistance to affordable housing, to identify exclusionary zoning. The county has submitted eight analyses to HUD, finding no exclusionary zoning regulations. HUD has rejected every submission. This dispute has cost the county more than $20 million in grant money from HUD.

For both sides, though, the principles in play go beyond the sum of the projects and the dollars involved. Astorino has called HUD’s actions “Washington-driven social engineering,” a sentiment echoed by, among many others, the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board. On the other side have been allegations of thinly-veiled racism, with The New York Times editorial board accusing the county of “keeping Jim Crow’s spirit alive.”

The Challenge in Chappaqua

New Castle is not only one of the richest communities in the country, but home to both the Clintons and Governor Cuomo. Add to that the town’s role on the wrong side of a watershed 1977 zoning ruling, Berenson v. New Castle, and it’s understandable that Chappaqua would end up in the spotlight, Greenstein says.

“The truth is, it makes it a perfect little town to make an example of, and I think that’s part of the problem,” says the town supervisor. “Because of those three reasons, I think that there are some people biting at the bit to make an example of us, and we have definitely felt that pressure.”

New Castle, which adopted the model zoning ordinance in 2011, has one major affordable housing project that has sailed through with little opposition: a 28-unit affordable housing project called Chappaqua Crossing at the site of what was once the Reader’s Digest building on Roaring Brook Road. Conifer Realty purchased the Chappaqua Station site in September 2010. Conifer’s plans for the site (originally 36 units) were at the time backed by Barbara Gerrard, then the town’s supervisor, as well as the town board. One of the proposal’s early critics, as Greenstein now points out, was James Johnson, the HUD-appointed monitor overseeing Westchester’s compliance with the settlement, who in an April 2012 letter to the board suggested that the site was isolated and stigmatizing.

The monitor signed off, however, after the developer made changes to the site’s design to help integrate the project into the community aesthetically, created public space within the building, and addressed traffic concerns. One change was to downsize the complex from 36 to 28 units.

“Some would say he flip-flopped on the issue,” Greenstein says of the monitor, who recently resigned from the case. “I haven’t changed my opinion. I think that site is isolating and stigmatizing.” The town board granted Conifer a special permit in September 2013, contingent on Conifer obtaining the necessary variances and permits. By then, however, public opposition to the project had begun to take hold. In the 2013 town board elections, Greenstein ran on the Team New Castle ticket along with town board candidates Lisa Katz and Adam Brodsky. Opposition to Chappaqua Station was a significant factor in Team New Castle’s election to all three positions. With the supervisor and a majority of the town board opposed to the project at its current location, along with concerns voiced by Building Inspector Bill Maskiell, progress on the development has slowed in the last two and a half years.

The root of the resistance to Chappaqua Station–whether born from flaws in the project or a wider resistance to public housing–is much contended. In February 2014, Conifer filed a Housing Discrimination Complaint with HUD, stating that during public debate opponents of the project claimed that “the project would be a stigmatized ghetto, that the children who lived there would be ostracized by children who live in the Village, and that the project would be where the ‘blacks and Hispanics’ live.”

Holly Leicht, HUD’s regional administrator for New York and New Jersey, says it’s hard to answer with any certainty whether opposition is due to the project itself or reflects a fear of any affordable housing. “There are probably people on both ends of the spectrum,” Leicht explains. “There usually are in these situations, where there’s a controversial project.”

But Greenstein points out that the town’s other major affordable housing project under the settlement, Chappaqua Crossing, has received little pushback from the community.

“When you look at that building, you’re not going to say, ‘That’s affordable housing.’ You’re going to say, ‘That’s housing,’” Greenstein says, referring to Chappaqua Crossing. Turning his attention to Chappaqua Station, he remarks, “Now compare that to this project over here. That’s on a third of an acre, from lot line to lot line there’s not a blade of grass.”

“There’s no question that people are opposed to this particular location,” Greenstein adds. “I want to make it clear that people are not opposed to affordable housing.”

The battle over the project has also ensnared the county. In December of 2013, the county’s Board of Legislators voted to withhold funding for the project; a year later, the board approved funding, on the condition that the project must receive all the necessary variances. The monitor faulted the county for counting the units towards the settlement agreement (it needed financing in place for 450 units by the end of 2014) but also blamed the county for failing to push New Castle to end the impasse. This May, Judge Cote said the units could count towards the settlement but also said the county had breached its obligation by not weighing in on behalf of the developer against local opposition.

The proposed site of Chappaqua Station has drawn opposition from a wide segment of New Castle residents and officials.
The proposed site of Chappaqua Station has drawn opposition from a wide segment of
New Castle residents and officials.

Mike Kaplowitz, the chairman of the Board of Legislators, says the project has been problematic from the get-go.

“Pretty much, nobody is happy,” Kaplowitz says. “That project is so messy. I don’t meet many people in New Castle who are happy on either side of that issue.”

Leicht acknowledges that the town has some legitimate concerns over the project, but says HUD is worried that the town is dragging its feet.

“I think that a legitimate back and forth, and focusing on the health and safety issues, is fine. The sense was that this is being protracted for a very long time,” she says. “I think part of the frustration is that things keep coming up sequentially rather than part of one process that is condensed.”

North Castle Supervisor Michael Schiliro explains restrictions imposed by his town’s infrastructure.
North Castle Supervisor Michael Schiliro explains restrictions imposed by his town’s infrastructure.

A Solution in North Castle

Around a century ago, the Village of Kensico was flooded due to the creation of the Kensico dam, leading many of the village’s residents to move south to what is now the Hamlet of North White Plains. Supervisor Schiliro believes this piece of history along with the hamlet’s proximity to White Plains has led to a higher population density, and a concentration of the town’s minority population, in North White Plains that exists to this day.

Today, one zoning district in downtown North White Plains has three-and-a-half times the rate of minority households as the town as a whole. Additionally, large parts of the town are zoned for single-family housing, with these districts primarily white.

For the housing monitor, this itself amounted to prima facie (legal language meaning presumed until proven otherwise) evidence of clustering under what’s known as the Huntington test (named for the 1988 watershed case Town of Huntington v. NAACP).

“Do I disagree with their findings? No. They’re mathematical. We technically fail the Huntington test,” Schiliro admits. “But part of it is something that happened 100 something years ago, which developed a denser zoning or development here.”

The town’s zoning is based more on the limits of its infrastructure than anything else. In the rural northern parts of the city, sewer and water is sparse outside downtown Armonk. This prohibits the kind of housing density seen in North White Plains. Schiliro, a Democrat elected in 2013, met with officials from the monitor’s office his first year in office, giving them a tour of the town to show them the restrictions preventing multi-family housing throughout most of North Castle.

In May of this year, however, the housing monitor released a report placing North Castle on a list of seven municipalities whose zoning could result in liability under the Huntington test or the related Berenson test (named after the 1977 ruling involving New Castle). “In the absence of remediation,” the report stated, “the Department of Justice is encouraged to give serious consideration to bringing legal action against one or more of these municipalities.”

“I was disappointed because genuinely I felt that we had made a lot of progress,” Schiliro says, looking back at the May report. “So our reaction was, let’s sit down with the monitor and the monitor’s office again. It wasn’t any animosity, any anger. It was just, let’s communicate.”

Schiliro again met with officials from the monitor’s office in June following the report’s release and pressed the town’s case. A month later, the monitor withdrew his recommendation of legal action, noting progress made by the town and also acknowledging environmental and infrastructural constraints.

While the issue was ultimately resolved, the monitor’s decision to place North Castle on such a list in the first place was viewed by some of HUD’s critics, particularly the Astorino administration, as an example of “breathtaking” government overreach. A spokesman for Astorino said the county executive was puzzled by the monitor’s initial decision, as was Westchester Legislator Margaret Cunzio, who represents North Castle.

“I think it was unfair because since day one they had been compliant and they had been working with both the monitor and the HUD office,” says Cunzio, a Conservative. “The town has done nothing since day one but try to fulfill their requirements.”

Schiliro carefully avoids any criticism of HUD or the monitor.

“It must be a challenge for them,” he says. “It’s a lot of work to really understand all the towns in the county, and each town is very different.”

Schiliro also notes that the town has made progress since the monitor’s 2014 visit. North Castle adopted the model zoning ordinance in 2014, and 25 affordable housing units are in development throughout Armonk.

“The town has always had affordable type housing for decades,” Schiliro notes. “We listened to what the latest communications were from the monitor and we made some adjustments to our code like creating the model ordinance so the future units would conform with what the parameters of the lawsuit were.”

Light at the End of the Tunnel?

At the end of the year, the county is obligated to have financing in place for the 750 units required under the settlement. But the county’s need for affordable housing has no end date.

“If we get to the end of the settlement and 750 units have been built but everyone is saying, ‘I never want to have to deal with the federal government, or the federal government’s money, or affordable housing, again,’” Leicht explained to legislators at a June meeting, “then we have not really met our goal here.”

Speaking to the Inside Press, Leicht circles back to this idea when asked whether New Castle, with 60 affordable housing units in the works including Chappaqua Station, has in fact done more than its share.

“These projects are happening, and I am optimistic that the 750 units will be met, but I don’t really think anybody would say that’s the entire affordable housing need in the county,” Leicht comments. “I haven’t had anybody, no matter where they stand on this settlement, not acknowledge that Westchester really has affordable housing needs.”

When people move into that housing [in Chappaqua], we will do everything in our power to make them feel welcome and part of the community.” –Robert Greenstein

Even some of Chappaqua Station’s opponents now seem resigned to the likelihood that it will be built.

“I’d like this project not to go forward because it’s a terrible site,” Kaplowitz says. “But unfortunately the wheels are in motion and there’s nothing we can do to stop it.”

Greenstein notes that there’s no guarantee the project will meet the conditions required for the building permit, but acknowledges the futility of risking litigation to try to stop it from moving forward.

With the housing monitor absolving North Castle of its Huntington test failure, this reporter asks the town’s supervisor, is the town in the clear regarding settlement compliance? “I would think we should be,” Schiliro replies diplomatically. “We will just continue on this path,” he continues. “As new developments come about, the model ordinance is in place; we’ll continue to further affordable housing like we’ve been doing for decades.”

At year’s end, the county is set to have the 750 units in the works, theoretically winding down its obligations under the settlement. But if the past is a guide, nothing is that simple.

In his letter of resignation Johnson, the housing monitor, wrote that his successor should be prepared to deal with the case for some time to come.

Andrew Vitelli, a Westchester native, is the editor of Inside Armonk Magazine.

Chappaqua Crossing Groundbreaking: “‘Super’ for Us”

by

By Matt Smith

“It takes a village,” Summit Development President Felix Charney began his speech on the morning of Super Tuesday, to kick off the official Groundbreaking ceremony for the new retail complex at Chappaqua Crossing Headquarters. “Given your presence here in this room, this is a village. And given the contribution that each of you in this room has made in one form or another, over the course of [the review of] this project, we all now have something today we can celebrate, and hopefully be very proud of… It’s Super Tuesday [in the political world], but it’s super for us, ‘cause it’s been a hell of a long ride, and we finally made it through.”

The groundbreaking official first dig. (L-R) Westchester Deputy County Executive Kevin Plunkett; Summit Development President Felix Charney; New Castle Town Supervisor Robert Greenstein; Westchester County Board of Legislators Chairman Michael Kaplowitz; Jeff Melby, Senior Vice President Life Time Real Estate and Development; Jake Grossman, co-President Grossman Companies. Photo by Matt Smith.
The groundbreaking official first dig.
(L-R) Westchester Deputy County Executive Kevin Plunkett;
Summit Development President Felix Charney; New Castle Town Supervisor Robert Greenstein; Westchester County Board of Legislators Chairman Michael Kaplowitz;
Jeff Melby, Senior Vice President Life Time Real Estate and Development;
Jake Grossman, co-President Grossman Companies. Photo by Matt Smith.

The plan, which Charney noted was 11 years in review and spanned the terms of four different town supervisors — Janet Wells, Barbara Gerrard, Susan Carpenter, and Rob Greenstein, all of whom were in attendance — will add a Whole Foods Market, LifeTime Fitness, and 28 affordable housing units to the former Reader’s Digest campus off Bedford and Roaring Brook Roads.

“This is a unique project — there is nothing like it in Westchester,” Charney continues. “The fact is, this is a magnificent town with phenomenal schools — it deserves amenities [whose standards are held] at the same bar.”

To that end, the development also includes plans for 91 luxury townhomes, a completely decked-out 500,000-square-foot cultural center, and a shuttle connecting to the Metro-North train station in the center of town, all of which are underway.

To say the 75 community members in attendance were in high spirits during the ceremony would be an understatement. “The truth is, a lot of people didn’t know if they would ever see it happen, and it’s happening,” says New Castle Town Supervisor Rob Greenstein. Despite the arduous process, he notes that “together, we made sure we ended up with a project that would benefit our entire community. We ensured the residents of New Castle the best possible outcome, amenities and aesthetics, as well as the commercial tax dollars we desperately need.” In short, as he states, “What started out as the longest and most controversial land use application in our town’s history, ended up as the perfect example of the benefits of working together.”

During the ceremony, representatives from both of the “retail village” companies expanded upon how their respective companies would specifically contribute to the well-being of the community.

“To be able to be part of a project that brings Whole Foods Market to Northern Westchester County and the great town of Chappaqua is something we’re so excited about,” says Whole Foods representative Michael Sinatra, adding that the opening of the store will satisfy customers who, through social media, expressed a need for such a venue in Northern Westchester. “One thing we really hang our hat on is our ability to partner with local non-profits, our local schools, [and] local food banks, and that’s also something we’ll look to extend when we open this property next year.”

Comments Brian Smith, area director of LifeTime Fitness, of their specific plans: “This [facility] destination will be unique [as opposed to others in Westchester]. It will have a broad array of highly personalized programs and services, that will allow our members to really go after the things they are most passionate about. If we can do [here] what we’ve done in our other facilities in Westchester, which is [to] really create a third home for folks in the community, I think we’ll have succeeded. We are honored and privileged to be here with you all today, and we are so excited about bringing this thing to life next year.”

The morning was capped off by an official groundbreaking, complete with a first dig and initial bulldozing — “‘Cause who doesn’t want to toss some dirt?” jokes Charney — and a lunch, catered (quite appropriately) by Whole Foods.

The first blow. Photo by Matt Smith
The first blow. Photo by Matt Smith.
Overview of the Village. Photo by John Vecchiolla.
Overview of the Village. Photo by John Vecchiolla.

Despite the grueling process and the long road ahead to completion, Greenstein, who, in fact, was once opposed to the project, now admits he can see the light at the end of the tunnel. “I personally think when this project is completed — maybe… four to five years down the road — there’s going to be some people that are going to say, “I can’t even believe that there was ever opposition to it,” because that’s how great I think the project is going to end up.”

Echoes Deputy Westchester County Executive Kevin Plunkett: “It shows that if we all work together, even over a long period of time, good things [can] happen and we can make a difference in Westchester County.” That we can, Mr. Plunkett, and we look forward to seeing what you, Charney, and Greenstein, can create with the rest of your team, and see how “this iconic piece of Westchester” can be repurposed for the next generation.

Chappaqua Crossing is located at 480 Bedford Road, just off of RT-117. CNB Builders will be in charge of construction. Whole Foods Market, the first building within the retail village to be constructed, is currently set to open in January 2017. For more information, please visit www.chappaquacrossing.com.

Chappaqua Crossing: Coming Soon

by

The traditional attractions of Chappaqua are many: esteemed schools, plenty of places to commune with nature, and accessibility to the city. And now, at an optimal time to take up residence in the hamlet, an exciting venture is coming to fruition: Chappaqua Crossing.

chappaqua crossings visualLocated on the former campus of Reader’s Digest on Roaring Brook Road, Chappaqua Crossing has already become a destination offering vital amenities with a certain cachet–a healthy lifestyle. To that end, the town has mandated that 20 percent of retail space be dedicated to health and wellness. The anchor store (crown jewel is no exaggeration!) will be a 40,000 square foot Whole Foods. This enterprise will provide the touch of sophistication that caters to foodies and busy families.

And, it’s not all about the retail side. The historic Wallace Auditorium will be donated to the town. Live theatre will reign in Chappaqua! Inaugural performances began in May and several theatrical companies have expressed interest in creating a permanent home. Chappaqua Crossing is dedicated to those looking to provide a healthy lifestyle for their families. The unique combination of fitness-related retail, Whole Foods and theatre, facilitates this goal. Easy access in one convenient place renders the Town of New Castle the ideal community in which to live and raise a family. chappaquacrossing.com

Update on Quest for Affordable Housing Inside the Chappaqua Crossing Cupola Building

by

Release from Town of New Castle:

Earlier this week, the Town received a rezoning petition from Summit Greenfield that would allow them to use the iconic cupola building at Chappaqua Crossing for the development of affordable housing. Specifically, Summit Greenfield has proposed relocating its previously approved affordable housing units to the upper two floors of the cupola building, which have been vacant for years.jvp_0306

Summit Greenfield has been exploring the feasibility of adaptively reusing the cupola building for residential purposes for the past several months. At a public work session on May 12, 2015, Summit Greenfield told the Town Board that utilizing the cupola building would better integrate the approved residential and retail uses on the site, and will allow them to build affordable housing units at the property sooner than otherwise feasible. Westchester County planning officials have expressed support for Summit Greenfield’s initiative.

According to Summit Greenfield, the upper floors of the cupola building can accommodate approximately 32 affordable apartments. With the re-adaptive use of the cupola building, Summit Greenfield would drop its previously approved plans to construct two new, multi-family residential buildings on the site, and would develop all remaining residential units on the property as fee simple townhouses.

Town Supervisor Rob Greenstein stated, “I believe that Summit Greenfield’s proposal offers the opportunity to create affordable housing choices in our Town that we all can be proud of. I am also pleased that the remaining residential units which the Town approved in 2012 will now be taxed as fee simple townhouses, rather than as condominiums.”

The Town Board will be holding a public hearing on Summit Greenfield’s proposal during which we will receive further input from our Planning Board, residents and other interested parties.

Editor’s Note: We learned from Geoff Thompson, representing Summit Greenfield, that the planned apartments in the Cupola Building will be a mix of studio, 1, 2 and 3-bedrooms. Specific breakdown of how many of each and floor plans are still to be determined. “They meet the Federal-County settlement guidelines,” said Thompson. “County housing officials have seen the concept and have expressed support.”

More news re the building as provided on behalf of Summit Greenfield:

The 111-unit residential layout on the 30 acres of the site that was approved in 2011 will be adjusted to show all 91 market-rate units as fee-simple townhomes, while the 20 affordable apartments that had been planned for that site will be included in the Cupola Building along with an additional 12 affordable apartments.

“We believe this is a unique opportunity to create high-quality affordable housing in a distinctive setting,” said Felix Charney, President of Summit Development, a Summit/Greenfield partner. “We are very pleased to be able to adaptively re-use office space in this classic building while providing much- needed affordable housing.”

With the zoning in place for 120,000-square-feet of retail space at Chappaqua Crossing that is now in the final stages of review by the town, Chappaqua Crossing will provide future residents with direct access to shopping. Chappaqua Crossing will also offer regular shuttle service to the Chappaqua MetroNorth train station, as well as proximity to schools and other services.

In addition to the future retail uses, Chappaqua Crossing also includes [more than 450,000] [500,000] square feet of office space that currently includes a mix of tenants including North Westchester Hospital and the Mount Kisco Medical Group, thereby offering opportunities to work as well as live on the beautifully landscaped campus-like property that overlooks the Saw Mill River Parkway and the wooded hills beyond.

“After many years of review, the future of this signature property is at last coming together,” Charney noted. “Once again, the site will be the valuable asset for the town and its residents as it was in its heyday as a corporate center, while offering so much more.”