“Transit-Oriented Development” (TOD) offers residents, businesses and employees expanded transportation options, lower commuting costs, and access to a wider market for goods, skills, and job opportunities. TOD projects are also more energy efficient than those dependent upon the automobile. That is why our downtown’s convenient access to mass transit is among New Rochelle’s major competitive advantages when it comes to attracting private investment.
With an eye to pressing this local advantage, the City has just released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a 3.2-acre site with enormous potential. The site, which straddles Garden Street, is directly across North Avenue from our Transit Center and immediately adjacent to Exit 16 on I-95. The development area includes a core under City ownership, and our Development Department negotiated agreements with nearby private property owners to permit the joint marketing of public and private land.
While the precise composition of any project is shaped by market conditions, we believe that commercial development will prove viable at this location, and that Garden Street’s immediate proximity to the train station will be especially attractive to office developers.
The RFP will be circulated widely to the development community, and responses are due on June 29th of this year. I am hopeful that we will receive a range of attractive proposals, but only time will tell.