YONKERS

square feet of retail, restaurant and other commercial space, approximately 30,000 square feet of office space and 3,904 parking spaces.

In November, 2022, the Planning Board acting as lead agency under the State Environmental Quality Review Act adopted an Environmental Findings Statement covering the three project sites according to Weingarten.

“On February 28, 2023, the City Council adopted amendments to the City of Yonkers Zoning Map and Zoning Code, and amendments to the City of Yonkers Getty Square Urban Renewal Plan, Riverview Urban Renewal Plan and the Downtown Master Plan all to facilitate development of the proposed project,” Weingarten explained.

At the April 12 Planning Board meeting, Attorney Janet Giris of DelBello Donnellan Weingarten Wise & Wiederkher LLP appeared for an informal presentation about the Buena Vista Avenue project. She said that the developments planned by AMS for Yonkers would take place over an approximately 10-year time frame.

Saurabh Goenka of the New York Citybased firm S9 Architecture and Engineering said that half of the podium beneath the towers that contains the parking would be built when the first tower is built in Phase

One and the remaining section would be constructed as part of Phase Two when the secnd tower is built. He said there would be a total of 10 stories of parking, with four below grade stories and six above-grade stories.

“In Phase One we’re building a total of about 760,000 square feet of floor area with about 480,000 square feet residential and the rest dedicated to parking and some retail at the ground level,” Goenka said. “Phase One is envisioned to have about 494 (residential) units.”

Goenka said that the design for the base of the building has been focused on how the project relates to the city and the surrounding area.

“The way the podium facade has been designed it’s sort of broken into smaller buldings. It would be perceived as a group of a few buildings versus one biilding in a large super-block,” Goenka said. “The idea is to create a facade of what used to be there.”

Goenka said that there would be perforated screening of the above-grade parking that would be used as a canvas for creating a graphic that “celebrates what Yonkers is and what Yonkers could be.” He said that there also would be screenng with a graphic on the side of the parking levels

1 Hosing development—

said of the CIF. “It’s a powerful tool.”

David McCarthy, president of Heritage Housing – which will oversee the development – was eager to share the details of the Oak Grove project.

“This is exciting for me both because the development itself will be great and a nice addition to Norwalk, but I’m also a lifelong Norwalker and I grew up a mile from this location,” McCarthy said, noting that wage levels for residency can range from 30% to 80% of the area median income. “Tenants coming in could earn from anywhere as low as nothing, if they’re out of work temporarily, or up to $134,000 for a family of four.”

The project will include 18 one-bedroom apartments, 24 two-bedroom units and 27 three-bedroom units spread across 18 buildings in keeping with the current format of the adjacent Colonial Village. The expanded education center will have two classrooms, a playground and a meal prep area plus additional flexible space.

The total cost of the project is expected to be $36 million and will be financed that are visible on the Hudson River side of the project along Water Grant Street. He said the two residential towers would be set back to reduce the effect of the towers onto the streetscape. by tax-exempt bonds, low-income housing tax credits, a loan from the Connecticut Department of Housing and the newly announced grant payment, according to McCarthy.

“The concept of the tower design is mostly focused on how we can extend the existing street fabric, which is a lot of brick in the neighborhood, and as the building rises up closer to the sky we transition between more brick and less glass to less brick and more glass and by the time you reach the top there’s almost no brick,” Goenka said. He explained that some amenities for residents are accessed on the seventh floor, including an outdoor pool and active and passive reaction space.

“At the top of the building we have another amenity zone; rooftop lounge and outdoor terraces that support the residents’ recreational needs,” Goenka said. He explained that there would be 80 feet between the two towers, exceeding the 60 feet required by the city.

Goenka said that the developer is working with Metro-North to address any concerns it may have regarding shadows cast by the buildings that affect the railroad right-of-way. He also said wind studies have been done and the plans already incorporate elements to address wind conditions.

Lamont emphasized the economic value of projects like Oak Grove and made the case that budget approvals could help spur similar work across the state.

“It’s one of the biggest investments we’re trying to make in this coming budgetary session,” Lamont said. “We’ve got a couple hundred million for workforce housing on top of the biggest investment in affordable housing we’ve done in many a year. If we don’t make sure that housing’s available for all these folks, unfilled jobs have to go somewhere else.”

State Rep. Kadeem Roberts, a Democrat who represents Norwalk’s 137th Assembly District, praised the local residents for their faith in bringing Oak Grove to life.

“Thank you to the people that live in the community of Colonial Village that stayed real calm with this process and that actually trusted us. Far too many times people feel like they’re getting kicked out,” said Roberts.