For those who don’t live in Westchester, NY – and even for those who do but don’t live in White Plains, this is a complex issue. Westchester in general and White Plains in particular is increasingly becoming very, very upscale. In recent years various attempts have been made to squeeze in affordable housing. The trouble is that builders don’t seem to have the enthusiasm for the affordable units that they do for high-end luxury housing. Complicating the situation is the way in which the City Council and particularly our Mayor (Joseph Delfino) seem to cater to the every whim of the developers that are blanketing the city with their “vision” of the future. Inevitably, this vision is always aimed at the high-end buyer. More and more the downtown is resembling a playground for the wealthy – while forcing middle class families out – to destinations further north.
Part of the problem is that developers can easily shirk their obligations by paying fees. The rule now is that for every luxury complex they build they owe the city affordable units amounting to a paltry 6% of the total number of units built – OR they can pay a fee. By and large, the builders have opted for paying fees. Since builders are falling all over each other to build in White Plains, is it so much to ask for the Mayor and the Council to show some spine and start INSISTING that the required units be built BEFORE a certificate of occupancy for the luxury units is given. Better still, increase the amount to 10%. If these things aren’t done, this city could eventually be unaffordable to anyone making less than $200k a year. This is terrific for property values, but does not achieve the goal of maintaining the vibrant mix White Plains, NY is famous for.
Take Mr. Cappelli – the super-builder of White Plains, NY. He currently owes the city 41 units of affordable housing. This man has had many very profitable projects that went up in record time. Including City Center, Trump Tower and the Ritz Carlton. He is also building a new building at 169 Main St. – yet he still owes White Plains 41 units of affordable housing - hardly a major feat for such a prolific builder. The city council demanded that 24 of these units be up and running before they opened the first tower of the Ritz Carlton. Well – the first tower is open – yet ground has not been broken on so much as ONE affordable unit. The agreement was that 24 of the 41 untis be built prior to the Ritz opening. Now, because of a heating issue (the units he wants to build call for expensive electric heating- which is a bad idea for lower income housing) Cappelli wants to be able to open the second tower before the affordable housing is built. COME ON!!! If Cappelli put the same time, effort and energy into the affordable units they would have been built long ago!
At the last City Council meeting Mr. Cappelli said that he felt as if he was “beat up on here” claiming that he had put $1.1 billion into the city when “no one else would.” When it was suggested that the certificate of occupancy for the second tower would be denied unless the 24 units were up and running, Cappelli's attorney sputtered in fury that this was "outrageous." Please stop whining Mr. Cappelli. White Plains has made you fabulously wealthy. Enough with the excuses, get your rear in gear and build the bloody housing. You are far too intelligent to not understand heating requirements for lower income housing. I don’t buy that excuse at all. As far as being beat up on…didn’t White Plains approve a building permit AFTER you had started building on 169 Main St? If the average citizen had pulled a stunt like that they would have been told to tear down what they had built and pay some hefty fines. Also, didn’t you start extra height on the Ritz Carlton BEFORE you asked for additional air rights from the City Council – which they gave you? Does anyone really believe that you “forgot” about these things? If you did your staff should have remembered. I’m not buying any more excuses.
The City Council (I’ve given up on the Mayor) needs to take charge of our city’s development and future – a new master plan needs to be created and the builders need to STICK TO IT. A current proposal to require 10% of all new building to be affordable with no option to pay a fee in lieu of this obligation is a step in the right direction – but it doesn’t go far enough. Right now there is no master plan for growth except the vision each builder gives us for a given parcel. Actually, there is a plan, but no one seems to pay any attention to it. Successful cities are planned, they don’t evolve willy nilly. And those plans need to take into proper consideration the needs of the citizens that are already here. You know, the people who paved the roads and built the schools and created the infrastructure. Building only with an eye to attracting the fabulously wealthy would bankrupt the city of its unique diversity and create a playground for the rich while the average citizen who made it all possible is tossed away like so much garbage. The fact that middle income citizens are worried about their future was eloquently stated in this article in the New York Times by Fernanda Santos, Urban Success Story, With Hint of Unease for Poorer Residents . The fact that this article was written in the first place speaks volumes.
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