Avalon Phase II
Last night, the City Council received confirmation that Avalon intends to proceed with the long-awaited second phase of its housing development. Avalon Phase II will include 588 market-rate apartments in a nearly 40 story tower at the intersection of Huguenot Street, Division Street, and Memorial Highway. As part of its development, Avalon will be required to construct a roughly 8,000 square foot retail area and a 392 space parking garage, with the ground level reserved for the public. Finally, Avalon will pay the City a $1,000,000 lump sum next year to reflect the 30 year net present value of the public parking area. Initial preparatory work on the site should commence before the end of this calendar year, with construction to begin in 2005.
Church-Division
Several months ago, the City issued a request for proposals for redevelopment of the Church-Division parking garage, just south of Main Street. We envisioned a new retail and residential complex, with preservation or expansion of the existing stock of public parking. The submissions, which came in last month, exceeded our expectations: six imaginative proposals, several from nationally known and respected developers, all of which would lend considerable vitality to New Rochelles downtown. The quality and breadth of the submissions suggests the resurgence of investment interest in New Rochelle, particularly in the residential sector and are powerful evidence that the seeds planted years ago by Avalon, New Roc, and related projects are beginning to bear fruit. The Church-Division proposals will be the subject of a special meeting of the Council in January and will soon be available for public review.