152 Luxury Apartments Proposed for Baldwin Place
A developer and owner-operator of luxury apartments is seeking to construct 152 units in the Baldwin Place section of Somers.
Representatives of AvalonBay Communities came to the February 6 town board meeting to discuss the project, even though they said the fate of the project would be up to the planning board.
AvalonBay representatives recently met with Supervisor Rick Morrissey to speak about the plan. Mark Weingarten, an attorney representing AvalonBay Communities, said his Virginia-based client owns 273 luxury apartment complexes nationally with 81,522 apartments. AvalonBay has luxury complexes open in White Plains, Bronxville, Greenburgh and Mamaroneck in Westchester County and a 168-unit complex on Route 9 in Ossining opening in two weeks, he said.
“We’re likely to attract an affluent crowd,” Weingarten said.
Grant Jaber, senior development director for AvalonBay, said the project would meet the parameters of the Master Plan for the mixed use Planned Hamlet. Jaber said his company would not be the developer of the commercial aspects of the Planned Hamlet.
Jaber explained the one-floor, one, two and three-bedroom apartments would be located in 17 two and three-story buildings. The apartments would be about 1,200 square feet each, he said. He said even though his company was seeking approval of luxury apartments, 15 percent of the units would be affordable. Town attorney Roland Baroni said the units could be considered affordable and be included in Westchester County’s settlement with the federal government.
In response to a question from Councilman Richard Clinchy, Jaber said the monthly rent for the one-bedroom apartments would be about $1,800; the rent for the two-bedroom apartments would be between about $2,400 and $2,600; and the rent for the three-bedroom apartments would be between about $2,600 and $3,000.
Jaber said his company was planning to renovate a 4,000-square-foot building that would be used as a clubhouse for residents of the new apartments.
Morrissey said he appreciated that AvalonBay made changes to the project based on comments he had during his recent conversation with representatives of the developer.
