New City Patch
October 28, 2016
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$12 million mixed-use development supports transit-oriented and economic development in downtown
NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Mayor Noel Bramson, Pratt & D’Angelo, the City of New Rochelle IDA, and The Community Preservation Corporation celebrated the grand opening of The Lombardi Apartments on Thursday.
Located at 11 Park Place—a five minute walk to the New Rochelle Transit Center, The Lombardi helps further the City’s new transit-oriented and economic development initiatives for downtown New Rochelle.
In attendance at the grand opening were NYS Assemblyman Steve Otis; New Rochelle Mayor Bramson; City Manager Charles B. Strome, III; Corp. Counsel/Chief of Staff Kathleen Gill; Councilmember Fertel; Fire Chief Lou DiMeglio; City Clerk Bennie Giles; Development Commissioner Luiz Aragon; Ralph Rossi, Managing Member of RMA Development, LLC; and Doug Olcott, Senior Vice President/Regional Director of CPC, among others.
The speaking program was followed by a formal ribbon cutting ceremony, tours of the 48-unit development, and a reception in the building’s retail space with refreshments generously donated by several popular locally-owned restaurants, including Posto 22, Wooden Spoon, Roc-N-Ramen, Sweet Potatoes, and Pop’s Espresso Bar.
“The Lombardi is not just an outstanding addition to New Rochelle’s menu of housing options; it also represents the future of the North Avenue corridor and of our transit area as a whole. I congratulate the development team on this great accomplishment and look forward to celebrating the further positive transformation of this key portion of our city,” Bramson said, according to a press release.
The Lombardi contains 2,550-square-feet of ground floor retail space, eight one-bedroom residential units, and 40 two-bedroom residential units. Ten percent of the property’s residential units are income-restricted and affordable to tenants earning 80 percent of the area median income. The Lombardi was conceived, designed, and built to provide its residents with an “Old World” experience, paying homage to the town where the developer’s grandfather, father, and uncle emigrated from.
“The Lombardi is the North Avenue change agent our city needed,” said Luiz Aragon, Commissioner of Development at the City of New Rochelle. “A new North Avenue is about to blossom in New Rochelle.”
Bob Marrone, Executive Director of the New Rochelle Chamber of Commerce, added, “Once again, New Rochelle is the beneficiary of a property that combines the utility and comforts of the present day with the elegance and charm of the city’s rich history.”
The Lombardi emphasizes state-of-the-art technology and energy-efficiency with the inclusion of a cogeneration plant and high efficiency and variable refrigerant flow (VRF) heating and cooling systems, among other features. The cogeneration plant uses natural gas to produce onsite electricity while utilizing its waste heat to generate free hot water for its residents. The VRF heating and cooling systems from LG are located in every apartment and allow tenants to control the temperature and programming for each room. In a recent study conducted by LG, VRF systems have been shown to save 66 percent in energy costs over packaged terminal air conditioner (PTAC) and packaged terminal heat pump (PTHP) systems.
“The Lombardi project is the quintessential model of what can happen when the right location is paired with the proper zoning ordinance. The City has clearly been working with developers over the years on zoning that has made good development economically feasible,” said Rossi.
The development was financed by CPC, which provided a $10.5 million construction loan and a SONYMA-insured permanent loan through the New York State Common Retirement Fund (CRF). CPC has a long-standing history of investing in revitalization projects in Downtown New Rochelle, most notably Davenport-Lofts on Main, a 72-unit condo project on the site of the former Bloomingdales. Since 1994, CPC has helped finance 51 multifamily housing projects with more than 1,100 units in New Rochelle.
“At CPC we believe that investing in high-quality, stable housing can help revitalize communities and act as a catalyst that attracts additional private and public investment,” said Doug Olcott, Senior Vice President and Hudson Valley Regional Director, CPC. “With the Lombardi, we’re creating new housing and commercial opportunity, and it’s being integrated into the City’s goals of building a more transit-oriented and livable downtown area. This is what the best of community development can look like when the private, nonprofit, and government sectors all come together with a common mission and a shared goal. My thanks to Ralph Rossi, Mayor Bramson, the New Rochelle IDA, and members of the community who have all supported this fantastic project.”
The Lombardi is a key project in the City’s efforts to promote transit-oriented development within the downtown New Rochelle area. The project development site is part of an area that was recently re-zoned to allow greater density to facilitate multi-family residential and retail development in the community.
To create a neighborhood that is livable, economically diverse, and affordable to a wide range of incomes, the City’s inclusionary zoning ordinance requires 10 percent of the units in a new construction project with 10 or more units being affordable to families earning 80 percent of AMI. Additionally, the New Rochelle Industrial Development Agency (IDA) provided an exemption from sales tax on construction materials and state mortgage recording tax, helping to reduce the overall cost of the project and allowing it to be more affordable.
“As a long time New Rochelle resident, firefighter, and business owner, I’m very happy with the direction our city is going. I’m glad to see people trust in New Rochelle and are willing be part of our future,” said Nicholas Triscari, owner of The Wooden Spoon.
The Lombardi is currently accepting applications for rent. For more information, please visit www.the-lombardi.com.