Yonkers waterfront developer pulls out

Len Maniace
The Journal News

YONKERS - The leading developer involved in the city's waterfront revival effort - a proposal for 3,752 apartments, commercial development and 17 acres of new public open space - has dropped its portion of the project.

City and private officials, however, said yesterday that they believed the departure of Homes for America wouldn't jeopardize redevelopment of the Alexander Street Corridor.

Homes for America owned 30 acres, which was turned over to its lender after the company failed to make sufficient progress on the development by a Dec. 31 deadline, Chief Executive Robert MacFarlane said. The entire corridor contains 153 acres.

The company's plan, known as Point Street Landing, contained four apartment towers and had advanced further than any put forward by the corridor's property owners.

MacFarlane blamed a lengthy review process in the state for the missed deadlines. He also acknowledged that the nation's frozen credit markets played a role, saying the lender may have granted an extension in better times. The company owed $97 million because of the missed deadlines, he said.

"We think everyone's opinion and voice must be heard - that's the American way - but that it takes this long to hear everyone's voice needs to be improved," said MacFarlane, whose Yonkers- based company has built high-rise housing in Florida and a Yonkers office building several years ago.

MacFarlane said the company bought the land in 2005. He presented the development plan to the city in late 2006.

Unlike another major developer in Yonkers, MacFarlane did not publically discuss the deadlines he faced, though he said he had notified city officials. In contrast, officials with Struever Fidelco Cappelli had widely publicized the deadline it faced in getting a major environmental approval for its $1.6 billion downtown plan in the fall.

Though Homes for America is out of the picture, a former company executive said he is working to continue the project with the New York City real estate fund that financed Homes for America's development effort. The lender would not be identified by MacFarlane or Daniel Tartaglia, who had been Homes for America's senior vice president.

"This is definitely going ahead," said Tartaglia, adding that the project's public open space would not be reduced.

Converting the former industrial district into an attractive mixed-use waterfront community is a complex task. The site contains industrial contamination, antiquated infrastructure and has more than two dozen owners.

The city's plan for the corridor came under public criticism a year ago for creating a "wall of high rises" along the waterfront. A scaled- down plan issued in the summer, however, won public support.

An environmental review for redevelopment of the entire corridor won a key approval in November, but others are needed. City Planning and Development Commissioner Louis Kirven said he hopes that would happen in the spring.

The nation's credit difficulties are a problem for many developers. Faced with many defaults, lenders are far more selective in making loans, said Jim Fitzgerald, president of the North Atlantic region of Wachovia Bank.

"Banks are willing to lend, but it is harder to get the loan," he said. "The criteria, and the returns they are seeking to compensate for the risk, are clearly tighter."

Homes for America's departure worried some residents. Terry Joshi, a leader of Yonkers Committee for Smart Development worried that open space and other amenities would be curtailed.

"I feel they understood community concerns and they are among the more conscientious developers," Joshi said of Homes for America.

Kirven said he believed Point Street Landing would be built once the economy improved and lenders began to make loans.

"When they do, they are going to be looking for the best projects and this is clearly one of the best in the region." Kirven said.