Whole Foods is the grocery store that is proposed for Chappaqua Crossing and would take up 40,000 square feet of space, according to a letter written to the New Castle Town Board by John Marwell, who is developer Summit/Greenfield's land-use attorney.
Marwell's letter came as part of the town board's packet material for its work session this coming Tuesday, along with a revised preliminary development concept plan (PDCP) for the site that includes the grocery space and 80,000 square feet of ancillary retail. The Whole Foods building would be freestanding and not be inside of the historic cupola structure of the former Reader's Digest campus. It would be located on the southern end of the property, near Roaring Brook Road and across the street from Horace Greeley High School
Marwell also gives a timeline for what Whole Foods wants and give a sense of urgency for Summit/Greenfield. He writes the following: "Whole Foods is requiring that the store be approved, constructed and available for occupancy by the end the second quarter of 2015. Construction of the building and site infrastructure improvements will take at least a full year to complete. Thus, time is of the essence for SG to meet its prospective lease obligations."
Marwell then requests that the public hearing for the PDCP, which is still open, be held again on Nov. 26, and for the town board to approve it and rezoning for the site. The rezoning involves creating a retail overlay zone on the southern part of the campus, which would be about 21.5 acres, down from 23.9 in a preliminary PDCP submitted to the town in October 2012, which was given along with the initial application for the proposal.
The new PDCP has the freestanding retail space shifted further south and closer to the street and the Greeley campus. A parking lot would be situated in front of a major access road for the site, which starts at Route 117. Previously, the retail space was next to the roadway while the parking was on the far-southern part of the site.
The proposal includes a 40,000-square-foot freestanding building; 16,500 square feet of adjacent retail space; a 25,000-square-foot retail building on the southeastern part of the site; a 5,500-square-foot bank structure; 33,000 square feet of retail space in part of the cupola and where the adjacent Building 100 is now situated. It also include a space called a "Market Square" just to the east of the cupola building and where the major roadway terminates, along with a community garden along the roadway from the eastern entrance.
The new PDCP reduces the amount of the cupola building that would be included in the retail proposal. The total amount of proposed retail space remains at 120,000 square feet, according to Andrew Tung, an engineer for the proposal, who described the updates in a letter also included in the packet. He also noted that the distance between the freestanding retail buildings and the closest residential building would stay the same.
The cupola building would be renovated, while Building 100 would be reconstructed, according to Tung. He also writes, referencing the changes, that "that additional or changed significant adverse impacts are anticipated."
Holding votes on whether to approve the PDCP, rezoning and changing the town development plan are the next major steps in the process. The most recent update came late last month, when the town board voted in favor of the project's findings statement, which is the last major environmental review document. While the retail proposal originally called for a grocery store of 36,000 to 66,000 square feet, the findings statement supported narrowing the range so that the maximum was 50,000.
Marwell and Tung wrote their letters on Nov. 12, which came about a week after the town board election. According to the unofficial election results, the new town board will be comprised of a majority who have been opposed to the retail plan: incoming Supervisor Rob Greenstein, and incoming council members Adam Brodsky and Lisa Katz. They ran as a ticket called Team New Castle, with concern about the project being a major aspect of the campaign. It is unknown whether or not the current town board can or will approve the various items needed for the project before the new board members take over on Jan. 1.
The new submission is included in the work session packet, which is available at this link and starts on the third page.
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