Officials: Time to Make a Decision on 'Castle' Development

After five years of revisions and dozens of public hearings, it's time to make a decision on a project that would bring 83 condos to within a stone's throw of the train station, members of Port Chester's planning commission said Monday.

Dubbed "The Castle," the project was "touted originally as one of the largest, most luxurious" developments in the area, said Michael Antaki, the planning commission's chairman.

But developer Phoenix Capital Partners submitted the first incarnation of the The Castle in 2006, and at a Monday meeting the attorneys, commissioners and a handful of residents agreed the project has been on the table for too long.

The scaled-down, less-pricey version of The Castle is an acknowledgement that the economy and real estate markets look drastically different than they did half a decade ago, attorney Demetrios Adamis said.

The developer "has been here now for five-plus years trying to see this project through," said Adamis, who represents Pheonix Capital through the local firm Gioffre & Gioffre.

So it went from what Antaki called "a very high-end, plush, doorman-type building" to the scaled-down current set of one- and two-bedroom units that range between 800 and 1,100 square feet.

To meet Port Chester's demands, Phoenix Capital submitted a pair of revisions and scrapped plans for two levels of underground parking by trimming the building's floor plan and moving some of the parking spaces outside.

The latest plan includes 134 total parking spaces – exactly 1.5 spaces per apartment unit. That didn't sit well with some neighbors, who told planning commissioners the finite amount of parking could mean residents of the new condos turn to the already-congested surrounding streets for parking spaces.

Several speakers also said they don't believe Adamis' figures that estimate only eight new school children would be enrolled in Port Chester's overcrowded school system after the condominiums are built. But not everyone blamed the developer for that problem.

Phoenix Capital is "getting the wrong end of the stick" after seeking approval for five years, resident George Ford said. Ford said Port Chester is "turning a blind eye to slum lords" and said local leaders should welcome developers, while clearing out landlords who own dilapidated houses and blighted buildings.

"We can't afford one more kid. Forget eight, we can't afford one," Ford said of the school system. "But it comes down to who's going to drop the hammer and drive the landlords out."

Antaki said commissioners are "at the point where we have to make a decision," and that decision could come in September when the planning board meets again.

In the meantime, most of the buildings in the area remain vacant and boarded up, and police have had reports of vagrants staying at the fenced-in property. Although some residents at the meeting said they didn't like the idea of a new development, most acknowledged the area is a blight on the village.

Antaki called them "rat buildings," and said the village was right to vacate them.

"There might have been 30-something units, but there was 500 people living there, there's no doubt about that," he said.

Antaki said he was glad the developer "hung in there" and didn't "come back with a car wash or a speedy oil change joint," while Ford wondered why developers would consider buying property in Port Chester, given its recent history of drawn-out decisions on sites that have been abandoned or vacant for years.

"It's an absolute joke," he said. "I feel bad for the applicant."