The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

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Chappaqua Crossing: Proceeding Apace

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Despite contentious debates for more than a decade, construction at Chappaqua Crossing is proceeding ahead in various phases. “Come this summer there will be more people living in that building,” New Castle Town Supervisor Robert Greenstein said in March as he pointed to a section of apartments in the so-called cúpula building–the building topped with four sculptures of Pegasus. Currently there are already 15 families calling the building “home.”

Lower down, other details from the old Reader’s Digest building’s past as a longtime employer of up to 4,000 people have been carefully preserved: well-made windows, fanlike brickwork above them, a rotunda room that used to house receptionists’ desks, irreplaceable interior doors, and a library, formerly used by Reader’s Digest staff, that curves out front and leads to a terrace.

“They’ve really preserved the architecture and a lot of the special interior aspects have been preserved,” Geoffrey Thompson, Summit/Greenfield’s spokesperson for the project, said. Thompson credits builder Bill Balter of Wilder Balter Partners for a special appreciation for preservation. “He recognized right away this was a special building and a special opportunity.” The apartments are a mix of affordable housing, housing intended for town employees, which are somewhat more expensive, and market-rate units.

A Phased Approach

As for the retail component, “the shell is almost done,” Greenstein said. In early spring, April 1 looked like a likely date for a building permit so the ‘buildout,’ or work on the interior, could commence. Then the retail component will be the main focus of effort. Greenstein explained that Department of Environmental Conservation rules prevent working on more than a five-acre area at a time, which is one reason this project is being accomplished in phases instead of all at once.

The townhouses, built by Toll Brothers, will come next. “The construction on the townhouses isn’t even going to start until the retail is done,” he said. “Even if they got their site plan approved tomorrow.”

There’s also office space at Chappaqua Crossing, including the corporate headquarters of Caremount, and Northern Westchester Hospital has medical offices there that are up and running. Other tenants include Digitech. Thompson said 200,000 square feet is already leased and there’s another 300,000 still available.

Building Retail and Improving Roadways

Roadway improvements are scheduled for this summer, and “once roadway improvement is done, they can open retail,” Greenstein said. “The roadway improvements have to be done for Whole Foods to get their CO,” which stands for certificate of occupancy. So far, confirmed tenants include a Whole Foods, a Life Time Fitness (which will include a spa and children’s play area) and Chase Bank, Thompson said at press time, with other businesses expressing interest and in various stages of negotiations.

The retail section of the project, which is located to the southeast of the cupola building, has a varied look to it and all sides of the project have been designed to look equally good, unlike some other retail spaces that prioritize the look of the front of the buildings.

New York State will determine whether or not the work on 117 will be managed by means of a detour. “You’re not going to widen a roadway without some disruption,” Greenstein said.

The changes to 117 will result in a left turning lane for motorists driving north on 117 who seek to make a left onto Roaring Brook Road. This will mean motorists going straight will no longer have to wait until drivers trying to make lefts in front of them find a break in traffic. There will also be a right lane for those traveling south, Thompson said.

Jitney Links Chappaqua Crossing with Downtown

Soon, there’ll be one or two extra ways–besides one’s car–to go between downtown Chappaqua and Chappaqua Crossing. The first will certainly be a jitney. Summit/Greenfield is “required to start a jitney shuttle as soon as the cupola building is occupied,” Greenstein said, recalling that Reader’s Digest once operated a similar service.

The second, a possible walking trail currently called ChapLine, is under consideration by the town board. “The first trail we looked into doing impacted a lot of wetlands,” Greenstein said, explaining that the board is now considering another route, but complexities such as possible easements must be taken into consideration.

The former Wallace Auditorium, also on the former Reader’s Digest property, now the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center, has been up and running since last fall and there are already events scheduled for as far ahead as September.

“The property is going to be a diverse group of activities,” Thompson said. “It’s an overused saying, but ‘live/work/play’ really does apply to this property.”

The Downtown Revitalization Project: What to Expect Next

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Editor’s Note: Many residents and merchants are excited to see the end result and improvements of all the activity in town. Yet as downtown Chappaqua is being intensively worked on along Greeley Avenues and up and down King Street, and traffic and commute times affected, the Inside Press has been contacted by various readers asking about plans and timelines as the town carries out the Master Plan worked on for so long. We turned to town board member Adam Brodsky to provide details and a timeline. We also asked Joseph Fleisher to record a visual history of this ambitious project.

 

Temporary water pipe on the north side of the triangle at Quaker Street and South Greeley Avenue.

The scope of the project, according to Brodsky includes (but is not limited to):

  • 1. replacement of the water system, sewer system and portions of the stormwater system under the streets
  • 2. replacement of all the sidewalks with concrete with brick accents and granite curbing throughout
  • 3. creation of several public gathering spaces
  • 4. widening sidewalks wherever possible
  • 5. installation of a traffic signal at King and Greeley with a traditional four way crosswalk
  • 6. installation of 60 new street lamps
  • 7. placement of 43 benches
  • 8. installation of a clock
  • 9. planting of more than 75 trees and shrubs

The projected timeline which is subject to change is as follows:

  • Completion of the installation of water system, sewer system and portions of the storm water system (Late Spring 2018)
  • Installation of sidewalks, curbing, streetlamps (Summer/Fall 2018)
  • Repaving downtown streets and completion (Late November 2018)

“This project is setting the stage for revitalization of the Hamlet and its growth over the coming decades,” noted Brodsky.

Water pipe crossover in front of Susan Lawrence on North Greeley Avenue
Looking towards the intersection of King Street and Greeley Avenues
Looking north towards the triangle at Quaker Street and South Greeley in front of Bank of America
Site of future bump-out in front of Chappaqua Tavern at King & Senter Streets
Looking south on South Greeley Avenue in front of the Shell Gas Station

Byram Hills HS Students Learn a Valuable Lesson Amid Bridge Project Date

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Aerial view of the new bridge’s westbound span stay cables

Eleventh and 12th grade physics classes at Byram Hills High School got a peek into the state’s largest infrastructure project when the New NY Bridge educational outreach team came to their school this academic year. “We asked them to focus on the engineering aspects of it although some science students were there,” BHHS teacher Paul Beeken said.

The presentation included the politics of getting a megaproject started. “One fascinating concept for us (students) was how to get a project like this in place,” Beeken said.

This year one of BHHS’s classes built a truss build from balsa wood and was challenged to see how much it can carry versus the weight of the bridge itself. “With this in mind, they have an understanding it’s a tradeoff: cost of materials and how heavy is the bridge versus how much can it carry,” he said.

Outreach educator Dan Marcy addressing students at Byram Hills High School

Beeken requested the presentation focus on engineering and the stress factors: what goes into building the roadway, the technologies needed to lift roadway and how the super crane was able to lift the weights it did as he’d finished a unit on forces including weights and pulleys.

When the kids asked Marcy where he got his degree, he told them he’s not an engineer and explained his background. “That was very valuable,” Beeken said, “because the kids could see someone who wasn’t an engineer but who was still very articulate about all the different facets of the project.”

Engineering is only one part of the project, he noted. “While maybe one-tenth of the class will become engineers, it’s important to have a basic literacy to more easily navigate the subject.”

Precast concrete panels atop structural steel girders

Months after the new bridge’s eight iconic towers were completed (in December) the super crane resumed setting structural steel on the eastbound span utilizing a different process. Assemblies lifted from the northern side of the westbound were moved to a floating barge between the two new spans and then fitted across the eastbound span’s concrete piers.

Anti-climb tensile mesh fencing will line both sides of both spans and the walking/bicycle path; steel mesh safety netting will be below each of the six belvederes. Earlier this year, an aesthetic LED (light emitting diodes) hour-long system test set more than 20 piers on the westbound Rockland awash in bright colors.

Crews anchoring a stay cable to the roadway

When fully installed, the 2,700 color lights and 500 white lights from Philips Lighting, the same company that brightens Madison Square Garden, will also illuminate the eight iconic towers and stay cables. With a predicted 100,000-hour lifespan (three times that of conventional lamps), the lights will use roughly 75 percent less energy.

As of a mid-April, date, all 96 stay cables–ranging from 190 to 623 feet long–for the westbound span and one-third (32) for the eastbound span are attached to their respective towers and tensioned to structural steel. More than 120 girder assemblies have been installed on both spans. Ongoing work includes installing concrete noise barrier panels along the northbound Thruway in South Nyack this week and installing transparent acrylite noise barriers on the Rockland approach on the soon-to-open westbound span and installing overhead gantries with electronic signage about lane use, exits and other helpful information.

Bucket trucks used to install LED system

“Before the (Tappan Zee) bridge was built there was nothing there, so no one had any expectations about what a bridge would do,” Beeken said. “Now (building a bridge today) is 10 times more difficult because people need that bridge and depend upon it. You want to build a new one, so the logistics of being able to build a new bridge without ever shutting down the old one presents challenges.”

Two-way traffic will temporarily switch to the new westbound span’s eight lanes by spring/summer. Crews will then dismantle the current bridge so the eastbound span can be completed and attached to the Westchester and Rockland landings.

The full bridge and its walking/bicycle path is expected to open in 2018.

PHOTOS CREDIT NYSTA

Chappaqua Crossing Groundbreaking: “‘Super’ for Us”

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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.

Streetscape Project: Well Underway

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Community Center

Triangle 3

Per Town Supervisor Robert Greenstein:

The Chappaqua Infrastructure and Streetscape Project Downtown Infrastructure and Streetscape Project is well under way. Our Streetscape Committee has been working hard for months to come up with specific recommendations for the Town Board to consider. Their recommendations have been incorporated into picture boards which are currently displayed throughout Town. Residents can provide feedback by emailing Feedback@MyNewCastle.org