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Home My WebLink About10 - Chapter 10 - Commercial DevelopmentPlan Rye Brook Chapter 10: Commercial Development 129 10. COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT Although Rye Brook is primarily known as a residential community, there are a number of key commercial uses in the village that have a significant impact on its fiscal condition and quality of life. This chapter examines the role of non-residential development in Rye Brook, with a particular focus on the tax base and employment. 10.1 Fiscal Conditions Over the past eight years, Village revenue and expenditures have been in the range of $14.3 to $19 million, with revenues rising from $14.3 to $18.5 million and expenditures increasing from $14.7 to $19 million. Although real property tax revenue also grew steadily from $10.7 to $13.2 million per year, the share of real property revenues to total revenue fell from a peak of 76.7% in 2009-10 to 71.4% in 2012-13, the lowest share in eight years. Table 32: Trends in Revenue and Expenditures for the Village of Rye Brook Note: (*) Excluding state and federal aid. Source: Village of Rye Brook, Adopted Budgets 2006-07 to 2012-13. As shown in Chart 15, by sheer number of assessed parcels (see left chart below), residential properties are the largest land use type in the village (87.4%) followed by commerical properties (6.3%) and vacant land (3.8%). Although the majority of parcels are classified as residential, that land use comprises a smaller portion of the village’s tax base, at 70.6% of the total assessed valuation (see right chart below). Commerical properties are the second most plentiful land use, yet their share of the total assessed value is more than double their percentage of the village’s parcels. These percentages underscore the importance of strong neighborhoods and viable commercial development for Rye Brook’s fiscal health. Expenditures (in millions) Total Revenue* (in millions) Real Property Tax Revenue Percent Real Property to Total 2005-06 $ 14.74 $ 14.28 $ 10.69 74.9% 2006-07 $ 15.14 $ 15.92 $ 11.38 71.5% 2007-08 $ 15.95 $ 16.24 $ 11.91 73.3% 2008-09 $ 16.38 $ 16.39 $ 12.40 75.6% 2009-10 $ 16.03 $ 16.71 $ 12.82 76.7% 2010-11 $ 16.18 $ 17.35 $ 13.11 75.6% 2011-12 $ 18.49 $ 17.16 $ 13.10 76.4% 2012-13 $ 19.04 $ 18.49 $ 13.20 71.4% Plan Rye Brook Chapter 10: Commercial Development 130 Chart 15: Village Land Use and Tax Base Composition, 2013 Source: Town of Rye Assessor’s Office, 2013. As with all local governments in New York State, a tax cap has been in effect over the last two years in Rye Brook, effectively holding the Village’s tax levy constant as expenditures to maintain essential services and capital investments have increased. At 22.8%, employee benefits make up the largest share of expenditures, increasing by 11.4% from $3.9 million to $4.3 million over the last year, mainly due to the rising cost of health insurance and the New York State Retirement System (see Chart 16, below). Most revenue sources have remained stable in recent years, but the addition of a hotel tax has helped reduce the burden on the property tax levy over the last three years, providing additional stability to the budget and capital program. Total full-time municipal employment has fallen in recent years from 75 in 2008-09 to 72 in 2013-14. The Village has sought to improve overall labor efficiency with reductions in seasonal assistants in the parks and highways departments and limited use of overtime. In the 2013-14 Village budget, spending increased by 3%, and property tax revenue grew by 0.7%. Because of State-mandated shifts in the relative value of homestead properties (residential) versus non-homestead properties (commercial), the tax levy for homestead properties increased by 3.4%, while the non-homestead property tax levy decreased by 2.6%, and its share of the total tax levy fell by 3.0 percentage points (see Chart 17, below). Agricultural, 0% Industrial, 0% Recreation & Entertainment , 0% Parks & Open Space, 0% Community Service, 1% Public Service, 1% Vacant Land, 4% Commercial, 6% Residential, 87% Total Parcels by Land Use Agricultural, 0%Industrial, 0% Recreation & Entertainmen t, 0%Parks & Open Space, 1%Vacant Land, 1% Community Service, 5% Public Service, 8% Commercial, 15% Residential, 71% Total Assessed Value by Land Use Plan Rye Brook Chapter 10: Commercial Development 131 $0 $2,000,000 $4,000,000 $6,000,000 $8,000,000 $10,000,000 $12,000,000 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Homestead (Residential) Non-Homestead (Commerical) Chart 16: Village Expenditures and Revenue as a Share of the Total Budget, 2013-2014 Source: Village of Rye Brook, Adopted Budget 2013-14. Chart 17: Rye Brook Homestead and Non-Homestead Tax Levies, 2006-07 to 2012-13 Source: Village of Rye Brook Rye Brook’s bond rating, recently upgraded in 2010, is Aa1, the second-highest rating offered by Moody’s. The Village’s total debt load is very low; however, in the near future, it may need to issue bonds to pay for capital projects. As noted in Chapter 12, the municipal highway garage is planned to be replaced, while space deficiencies have been identified at the Police Department. 10.2 Commercial Development Commercial development in Rye Brook is comprised of retail/commercial services, office and hotel uses. General commercial services and retail encompass 90 acres, while office buildings, including several large office parks, cover 113 acres. The Doral Arrowwood and Hilton hotels together constitute 68 acres (see Figure 23: Commercial Development in Rye Brook). Other 2% Gross Rec/Cable 2% Hotel Tax3% Insp Fees/Chips/Aid 3% Rec/AJP/Rent/ Youth 3% Pilots 4% Sales Tax/Int Earn 8% Real Property Taxes75% Revenue Share Central Items 1%Legal 1% Water/Lighting/Sewer2%Library 3% Special Items 3%Capital 5% Debt Service 5% General Government 6% Rec. & Human Services8% DPW 16% Employee Benefits 23% Public Safety27% Expenditure Share VILLAGE OF RYE BROOK, NY SOURCE: WESTCHESTER COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING, BFJ PLANNING PLAN RYE BROOK FIGURE 23: COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN RYE BROOK N RID GE ST 29 BOWMAN AVE HUTCHIN S ON RIV ER PK Y S HU TCH IN SON RI VER P KY N S R IDGE ST 30S V A LL EY TER WESTCHESTER AVE KING ST CRAWFORD ST COU NTRY RIDG E DR HIGH ST T A M A RACK R D LINCOLN AVE LAT O NI A RD ARB OR DR B E L L E FAIR RD BONWIT RD O L D ORCHA R D R D D R ROSDNIW BETSY BROWN RD H OLLY LN HI LLA N DA LE RD BE L L E F AI R BL V D LOCH LN MOHEGAN LN T A L C O T T R D COMLY AVE ANDE RSON HILL RD D R N O T L I W BOBBIE LN CR O SS W E S TCHEST E R EX P Y FAIRLAWN PKY PA D D O C K R D P I NE RIDG E RD RIDGE ST BIRCH LN BR O O K L N LONGL EDG E DR ARGYLE RD ELM HILL DR J EAN L N BERKLEY DR MEADOWLARK RD HA W TH O R N E A V E EVA TSERCLLIH RED ROOF DR ROCKINGHORSE TRL C H U R C HILL RD IRENHYL AVE WYMAN ST NEUTON AVE D R K A O D L O RD EGDIR K C O R RIDGE BLVD MAGNOLIA DR SUNSET RD JENNIFER LN B EACO N LN LAWRIDGE DR WINDINGWOOD RD N WOODL AN D DR BOXWOOD PL MARK DR ACKER DR BELL PL WO ODLAN D AVE PH Y L LI S PL MAYWOOD AVE WINDINGWOOD RD S EA G LES B L F DO RCHESTER DR REUNION RD MAPLE CT W R D S N E E R G LAROD DIVISION ST WINTHROP DR EDGEWOOD DR DIXON ST BEEC HWOOD BLVD FRANKLIN ST ORIOL E PL HIDD EN POND D R SLEEPY HOLLOW RD CARLTON LN LE E L N CAN D Y L N WH IPPOORWILL RD AVON CIR K N OLLWO O D DRHUNTER DR C HARLES L N GREENWAY LN MI L ESTONE RD R O A N O K E A V E ARLINGTON PL TE R R A C E CTKENDOLIN LN INTERNATIONAL DR W E STV IE W AV E COLLEGE AVE W RIDGE DR R Y E R ID G E PL Z ELLENDALE AVE B A R B E R P L BROOKRIDGE CT W WILLIAM ST DEER RUN P ARKWOOD PL BISHOP DR S IVY HILL LN R I C E G DIR Y R T N U O C CROSSWAY LITTLE KINGS LN BE R K LEY LN RT-120A BR OOKS IDE W AY 27S PARADE LN BAYB E RRY LN PI NE TRE E DR CRESCENT PL OSB OR NE PL TR E E TO P LN BISHOP DR N JAMES WAY JACQUELINE LN BO L TO N PL WILTON CIR 29 CROSS WESTCHESTER EXPY T S G N I K LI N C OLN AVE KIN G S T 28 L I N C O L N A V E 1 0 N MAIN ST 27 P U R C H A S E S T ANDERSON HILL RD POLLY PARK RD C R O S S W E S T C HE S T E R EX P Y S R E G E N T S T N REG E N T S T PU TNAM AVE RT -12 0 HU TCHI NSON RIVER PKY S WESTCHESTER AVE INDIAN RD K ENI L W ORT H R D W EB B AV E S P E A R L S T B O STON POST R D RID G E S T H ALSTEAD A VE RT-1 2 0 A S M AIN S T M IDL A ND AV E MILL ST W G L E N A V E 1 -S U H A I N E S B L V D ADEE ST P U R C H A S E S T 10 28 WESTCHEST ER AV E K I N G S T K I N G S T 27 WESTCHESTER AVE Port Chester C O N N E C T I C U T 00.510.25 Miles μB Y R A M R I V E R MAP NOTE: Commercial properties were derivedfrom parcel-based land use inventory in which land use categories were originally derived from 2009 town assessment data containing ORPS (Office ofReal Property Services) codes which define specificland use as assigned by local assessors.HARRISON Legend Commercial and Retail Office and Research Hotels and Conference Centers Westchester County Airport Blind Brook Country Club Blind Brook School Rich Manor Park Crawford Park HUTCHINSON RIVER PAR K W AY Port Chester Middle School St. Mary's Cemetery Port Chester High School T O W N O F G R E E N W I C H Reckson Executive Park 900 King Street 760/800 Westchester Avenue Rye Ridge Plaza Washington Park Plaza Rye Brook Plaza (90 Ridge Street) Plan Rye Brook Chapter 10: Commercial Development 133 Retail Sector Commercial retail development is concentrated almost entirely at Rye Brook’s south end along the major thoroughfares of Bowman Avenue, Westchester Avenue and South Ridge Street. The Village Center is located at the intersection of Bowman Avenue and South Ridge Street, home to Rye Brook’s largest retail center, the Rye Ridge Shopping Center, a 220,000-square-foot mixed- use facility. The complex has three distinct components. Rye Ridge is home to a specialty grocer, several national limited-service restaurant chains and retailers and long-time independent community shops including a bakery and boutiques. Anchored by CVS, Rye South includes several personal care, food shops and other convenience-type stores. Rye Plaza is a mixed-use facility with professional and medical office along with a fitness center and a few retailers. Another key retail complex in Rye Brook is Washington Park Plaza, on South Ridge Street, with a grocery store, CVS, liquor store, bank and full-service restaurant. In addition, small-scale office and commercial uses are located on Westchester Avenue and Bowman Avenue. According to ESRI’s Retail Marketplace Profile, the village’s annual retail sales in 2013 totaled $69 million, including $58.6 million in retail trade sales and $10.4 million in food and drink sales. Estimated retail demand among Rye Brook residents far outstripped supply, with a total retail gap of $147.5 million, including $136.5 million in retail trade and $11 million in restaurant sales. Given the village’s close proximity to major shopping centers in White Plains and New York City, as well as the increasing popularity of online shopping, residents continue to find competitive shopping options for major purchases, with the majority of non-local sales occurring in motor vehicle sales, grocery stores and restaurants, gas stations, department stores and online retailers. Office Sector All of Rye Brook’s most significant commercial developments are located along the village’s periphery. The most notable development is that which serves as the gateway to the village when entering from the west of any major highway: 800 Westchester Avenue, a 532,680-square-foot Class A office building on a 54-acre campus, originally built in 1983 as the corporate headquarters for General Foods. The building was sold in 2004 in the largest transaction in the nation at the time, and converted into multi-tenant office space. It is connected via underground tunnels to 760 Westchester Avenue, a 62,000-square-foot office building. The complex is well- known for its corporate amenities continued from the General Foods era, including an executive dining room; fitness center; conference facilities; and convenience features such as a beauty salon, dry cleaners, sundry shop, train station shuttle and car wash. At the village’s north end along King Street, another campus-style office park, Reckson Executive Park, offers 855,204 square feet of Class A office space grouped in two clusters of three buildings each, built in the early 1980s and including additional amenities such as a fitness center and café. A third phase of the complex along the western portion of the property is approved for the additional office space but remains unbuilt. Another multi-tenant corporate campus formerly occupied by IBM, 900 King Street, is located on the eastern edge of Rye Brook near the municipal complex. Built in 1981 on an 18-acre site, the Plan Rye Brook Chapter 10: Commercial Development 134 campus contains 201,000 square feet of Class A office space, a café, fitness center and conference center. The building lay vacant for most of the 1990s until the majority of it was occupied by Snapple in 2004; since Snapple’s departure later that decade, 900 King Street has faced long-term vacancy issues. As of March 2014, the entire second floor of the building, totaling 100,000 square feet, as well as approximately 32,000 square feet on the first floor, was available for lease. The remainder of the facility is occupied by Greenwich Hospital and investment firm Kenmar Group. Smaller office buildings with fewer amenities are located at Rye Ridge’s 77,000-square-foot Plaza Building, a mixed-use property built in 1966 with numerous professional and medical-service tenants, and at the Rye Brook Plaza, an 80,000-square-foot office building built in 1985 and located just north of the Rye Ridge Shopping Center at 90 South Ridge Street. According to local realtors, commercial office space leasing rates in 2013 ranged from $24.50 to $29 per square foot at several Class A office buildings in the village, including 800 Westchester Avenue, Rye Ridge Plaza and Rye Brook Plaza. For the overall Platinum Mile office campus corridor along I-287 and Westchester Avenue that encompasses White Plains, Harrison and Rye, office vacancies were at 19% in 2012, up from 13% in 2002.17 Office Zoning The Village of Rye Brook has four office zoning districts which provide for varying minimum acreages and permitted uses, as shown in Table 33, and generally correspond to existing office uses in Rye Brook. The OB-1 zone is mapped on the Westchester County Airport, Reckson Executive Park and a small portion to the west of the Doral Arrowwood complex, along the Harrison border. The OB-2 zone is located in one area of the village, encompassing 760/800 Westchester Avenue, Port Chester Middle School and a professional office building housed in a residential structure. The OB-3 zone is mapped for the United Cerebral Palsy of Westchester headquarters at King Street and Lincoln Avenue, just east of the airport. Finally, the OB-S zone is found at two locations in the southern portion of Rye Brook: the Rye Brook Plaza office building at 90 South Ridge Street and the Washington Park Plaza shopping center. As indicated in Table 33, the regulations controlling the office zones are relatively complex, and in need of review. For example, in both the OB-2 and OB-3 zones, office buildings are listed as permitted uses, but also listed as special permit uses, with a reference to criteria found in two individual sections of the Zoning Code (Section 250-6, General Supplementary Regulations and Section 250-7, Special Supplemental Regulations). Thus, a full understanding of the requirements for these zones requires that the user consult three different sections of the code (Sections 250-6 and 250-7 in addition to the Schedule of Regulations for each zone found in Article VIII). Furthermore, the OB-2 zone allows for single-family uses as permitted in the adjacent R-10 zone, as well as conversion of existing residential uses to professional office use. But residential uses do not exist in the OB-2 zone, nor are they likely to, as the sole residential use has already been 17 Brenner, Elsa. “In Westchester County, the Platinum Mile is Reinvested, Again.” The New York Times, January 3, 2012. Plan Rye Brook Chapter 10: Commercial Development 135 converted to office use, leaving only the 760/800 Westchester Avenue office complex and the Port Chester Middle School. Finally, as noted elsewhere, the OB-S zone acts to support single- story buildings with large footprints and significant areas of surface parking, a type of development that is inconsistent with modern office standards and fails to promote strong aesthetic design and best practices for stormwater management. The office zones would benefit from a comprehensive review, to make them more user-friendly, consistent and efficient. Table 33: Office Zoning in Rye Brook Zone Permitted Uses Special Permit Uses Min. Lot Size Yards Floor Area Ratio Max. Height Front Side Rear OB-1 Office buildings for business and professional use; research and testing laboratories; executive learning centers; banks. Light technical and manufacturing or business uses and storage facilities as part of an office or research and testing laboratory use; same as R-25 zone. 15 ac. 100 ft if <30 ac. 100 ft if <30 ac. 100 ft if <30 ac. 0.25 if <30 ac. 35 ft if <30 ac. 200 ft if >30 ac. 200 ft if >30 ac. 200 ft if >30 ac. 0.30 if >30 ac. 50 feet if >30 ac. OB-2 All uses in R-10 zone; office and professional buildings, research and testing laboratories. Same as R-25 zone; office buildings subject to special permit requirements; conversion of residences to professional office use. 5 ac. None None None None None OB-3 Office buildings. Same as R-25 zone; office buildings subject to special permit requirements. 5 ac. 100 ft 60 ft least side 120 total 100 ft None 50 ft OB-S Office buildings as permitted in OB-2 zones. Light technical/ business uses and associated storage facilities, but no industrial or manufacturing use; all principal and access uses permitted in C1-P zone, except drive-in/curb service restaurants and bowling alleys. 3 ac. 60 ft 50 ft least side 100 total 50 ft 0.35 20 ft, 1 story Source: Chapter 250, Village of Rye Brook Code One office development in Rye Brook is not located in an office zone, but rather a Planned United Development (PUD) zone (see Section 250-7). The 900 King Street facility was developed through a PUD in the late 1970s/early 1980s in conjunction with the adjacent Arbors residential development. Subsequent to its development, the standards for PUDs were revised several times in the 1990s, and the 900 King Street/Arbors PUD appears to no longer conform. For example, the PUD is located south of the Hutchinson River Parkway, where the code requires that PUDs must be located north of that roadway. In addition, the residential density of the Arbors likely exceeds the maximum of 6 units per gross acre requirement, as the development contains 250 units on 37 acres (about 6.76 per acre). Finally, the office building’s floor area ratio (FAR) is about 0.26 (201,000 total square footage divided by the approximately 773,626 square feet of Plan Rye Brook Chapter 10: Commercial Development 136 lot area), which is well in excess of the maximum allowable FAR of 0.12. While it is likely that the PUD regulations were revised to provide for tight control of future development, the effect of this nonconformity may be limiting the potential of 900 King Street, possibly contributing to its vacancy issues. Hotel Sector Hotel and conference center uses comprise 68 acres, or 33.6%, of the village’s commercial land uses. At 699 Westchester Avenue, the 37-acre Hilton Westchester-Rye Brook (locally known as the Rye Town Hilton) contains 445 guest rooms, 34 meeting rooms and a 9,520 square foot ballroom/conference room. The hotel serves as an anchor to the Platinum Mile corridor, offering accommodations for local clients including Morgan Stanley, PepsiCo, Mastercard and IBM. In the fall of 2013, the owners of the Hilton shared plans to build 125 units of assisted-living and memory-care residences in two buildings on the property where overflow parking is currently located. While there is no firm proposal, preliminary sketches have been drawn up, indicating that the facility could include amenities such as a pool, library, card room and meal facilities. Earlier in 2013, the hotel’s owners had proposed constructing 96 units of upscale senior housing at the same location, but market research suggested that senior care residences would be more viable. At the village’s north end, the 473,000-square-foot Doral Arrowwood hotel and conference center includes both a business hotel and resort area with 373 guest rooms, 33 function rooms, several restaurants, a ballroom, sports center and nine-hole golf course. Including the golf course, the entire facility encompasses 114 acres and includes Pfizer’s 110,000-square-foot Global Learning Center, a training facility used for the company’s field staff and marketing team. 10.3 Employment in Rye Brook18 The majority of employers in Rye Brook staff white-collar workers requiring at least some college education. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics program (LEHD), in 2011, 48.5% of Rye Brook’s employed workforce 30 years or older had a bachelor’s degree or more, compared with just 40.2% in Westchester County. Additionally, 74.4% of Rye Brook workers had some level of post-secondary education beyond a high school diploma, slightly more than Westchester County, where 68.4% of workers had some college education or more. The overwhelming majority of the workforce in the village is employed in service-providing industries, which can include a wide range of jobs, from food-service and accommodations to finance, insurance and real estate. Within this industry supersector, Rye Brook’s workforce has 18 This section examines Rye Brook’s workforce, which consists of people working within the village. A portion of the village’s workforce may also correspond to residents of Rye Brook, but much of it relates to people traveling into the village for employment. Plan Rye Brook Chapter 10: Commercial Development 137 particular concentrations in educational services (34.9%)19, health-care and social assistance (15.9%), finance and insurance (8.5%), information (6.2%) and professional services (6.1%). Some 8.7% of Rye Brook workers are employed in trade industries, of which 6.9% work in retail. Just 2.9% of the workforce is employed in goods-producing industries, and 0.9% works in the transportation or utilities sectors. Compared with Westchester County, the Village has a far greater share of its workforce employed in service industries, with fewer workers employed in the sectors of trade, goods-production, transportation, and utilities (see Chart 18). Chart 18: Distribution of Employment by Industry Supersector in Rye Brook and Westchester County, 2011 Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Program, 2011. Over the period from 2002 to 2011, total employment in Rye Brook fell from 8,292 to 6,453 workers, a loss of 1,839 workers or 22.2%. During these years, the Village’s service industry supersector declined from 6,717 to 5,648 workers, a loss of 1,069 workers, or 15.9%. Despite contracting employment, the percentage of workers employed in service industries increased from 81.0% to 87.5% as the share of workers employed in the transportation and utility supersector decreased from 9.6% to 0.9% and the share of goods-producing workers dropped from 4.1 to 2.9% (see Chart 19, below). While most service supersector firms saw employment gains over these years, the corporate management sector collapsed from 2,354 to 178 workers, almost entirely a result of Altria relocating its operations and selling off its Westchester Avenue headquarters to the RPW Group in 2004. Despite job losses from the closing of Hoenig and Co. and Market Data Corporation, the financial-services sector added 365 jobs, nearly tripling in size. The information sector expanded by four-fold, or 328 workers, while the real-estate sector added 55 jobs, effectively doubling in size, and the professional/technical services sector expanded employment from 330 to 394 workers. Employment in educational services, the second-largest industry sector aside from corporate management, added 109 jobs, growing from 2,146 to 2,255 workers. Following 19 Employment in the educational services sector may be exaggerated due to the presence of Southern Westchester BOCES of which its 2013 staff of 1,100 workers are employed in 189 public schools throughout Westchester County including 45 workers employed in the village of Rye Brook. 2.9% 87.5% 8.7%0.9%9.0% 71.5% 15.8% 3.7% 0.0% 20.0% 40.0% 60.0% 80.0% 100.0% Goods-Producing Industries Service-Providing Industries Trade Industries Transportation & Utilities Rye Brook Westchester County Plan Rye Brook Chapter 10: Commercial Development 138 4.1% 81.0% 5.3%9.6% 2.9% 87.5% 8.7% 0.9% 0.0% 20.0% 40.0% 60.0% 80.0% 100.0% Goods-Producing Industries Service-Providing Industries Trade Industries Transportation & Utilities 2002 2011 regional and national trends associated with an aging population, the health-care and social assistance sector nearly doubled in size from 539 to 1,024 workers. The arts, entertainment and recreation workforce also increased sharply from 15 to 53 workers, while the accommodation and food services sector lost 114 workers and the public administration sector shed 22 workers. Chart 19: Change in Distribution of Employment by Industry Supersector in Rye Brook, 2002 to 2011 Source: US Census Bureau, LEHD Program, 2002 & 2011. As a whole, the goods-producing supersector contracted from 339 to 185 workers as the manufacturing sector declined from 267 to 35, a loss of 232 workers or 86.9%, offsetting a doubling in size of construction employment. Collectively, employment of retail and wholesale trade firms grew from 439 to 562 workers, a gain of 123 workers or 28%, led by a two-fold expansion of the wholesale trade sector. The transportation and utilities sector lost significant employment, falling from 797 to 58 workers, a loss of 739 workers, or nearly 93%. Table 34 identifies the village’s major employers in 2004 and 2013. Given its concentration of white-collar service jobs, the majority of employment is concentrated in Rye Brook’s hotel and office campus complexes, public schools and municipal offices. Retail jobs are focused in the Village Center, while health-care workers are employed at several office buildings on King Street. In recent years, the Village has added four major finance or insurance firms. Corporate restructuring since 2004 resulted in the loss of two major employers, MCI and Worldcom (now both owned by Verizon), though another telecom firm, Broadview Networks Holdings, and Regional News Network, a television broadcaster, are both now in the village. Plan Rye Brook Chapter 10: Commercial Development 139 Table 34: Major Employers in the Village of Rye Brook, 2004 and 2013 2004 2013 Employer Total Staff Employer Total Staff Doral Arrowwood 500 Doral Arrowwood 500 MCI 400 Hilton-Westchester 350 Hilton-Westchester 350 Blind Brook-Rye Union Free School District 264 Blind Brook-Rye Union Free School District 204 United Cerebral Palsy*200 United Cerebral Palsy* 200 Port Chester-Rye Union Free School District** 175 Port Chester-Rye Union Free School District** 167 Strategies For Wealth 150 Marriott 150 King Street Nursing Home* 130 NYS Department of Taxation and Finance 150 FLIK International Co. 130 King Street Nursing Home* 130 NYS Department of Taxation and Finance 100 Compass Group USA 125 Regional News Network 100 Hoenig & Co. 108 Pfizer* 100 D'Agostino’s 100 Navigators Insurance 90 Pfizer 100 Compass Group USA 90 Market Data Corporation 100 Village of Rye Brook 73 Worldcom 90 Park Avenue Securities 63 Ben-Lee Distributors 90 Cytopath Biopsy Lab Inc. 60 Dental Study Club of New York 75 D'Agostino’s 52 Village of Rye Brook 74 Broadview Networks Holdings 50 Port Chester-Rye Brook Ambulance 50 Houlihan/Lawrence Inc. 50 Parsons & Whittemore Inc 50 Judicial Title Insurance LLC. 50 R D Weis Co. 50 Notes: Total staff generally includes all workers employed at locations in the Village of Rye Brook. (*) Village employment unverified, actual may be lower than indicated. (**) Represents employment at Port Chester Middle School and Port Chester High School. Sources: 2004 Employment: Westchester County Department of Planning and New York State Education Department. 2013 Employment: InfoGroup and New York State Education Department, prepared by Urbanomics. 10.4 Inflow/Outflow Employment Trends In addition to providing general resident and workforce labor and demographic trends, the U.S. Census Bureau’s Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics Program (LEHD) estimates where people live in relationship to their jobs. According to 2011 LEHD data, there were 6,453 jobs in the Village, while 4,337 residents are employed, indicating a positive net inflow of labor, where the local supply of jobs exceeds total number of employed residents. 10.4.1 Out-Commutation Clearly, residents prefer to live in Rye Brook and work elsewhere for a number of economic, social and personal reasons. Just 6.5%, or 281 of employed Village residents, work from home or at another location within Rye Brook. As shown in Figure 24, the remaining 4,056 resident workers commute to other destinations including New York City (28.1%), Port Chester (4.6%), Plan Rye Brook Chapter 10: Commercial Development 140 White Plains (4.2%), Harrison (3.9%) and Stamford (3.5%). At the county level, 38.4% of residents work in Westchester County, followed by Manhattan (21.6%) and Fairfield County (10.3%). Figure 24: Out Commutation of Employed Rye Brook Residents to Work, 2011 Source: US Census Bureau, LEHD Program, 2011. 10.4.2 In-Commutation Among those estimated 6,453 workers employed in Rye Brook, 281, or 4.4% are local residents, while 6,172 commute from other locations. The flow of workers commuting to the Village is not dissimilar from the movement of residents commuting from Rye Brook. The primary residences of Rye Brook’s workforce include New York City (14.7%), Port Chester (8.1%), Yonkers (4.5%), White Plains (4%), New Rochelle (2.7%), and Stamford (2.3%). More than half of the Village’s workforce resides elsewhere in Westchester County (51.4%), followed by Fairfield County (8%), and the Bronx (5.9%). Due to the ease of travel by car to the Village’s office parks, Rye Brook’s workforce generally resides in the southern half of Westchester County and Fairfield County, with a number of highly educated workers commuting from afar (see Figure 25). Plan Rye Brook Chapter 10: Commercial Development 141 Figure 25: In-Commutation of Workers Employed in Rye Brook, 2011 Source: US Census Bureau, LEHD Program, 2011. 10.5 Potential Future Conditions Further commercial development in the village is hindered by both limited acreage zoned for commercial uses and the lack of significant vacant or undeveloped land. One vacant commercially zoned area is just east of the Reckson Executive Park, where, as discussed above, an expansion of the office campus has been approved but not built. Other commercially zoned properties could be further developed either through renovations, additions or subdivisions of underutilized areas. Following the global recession of 2007-2009, demand for commercial office space in Westchester County has been sluggish for several years as global markets have withheld spending in the private sector. Moody’s Analytics has projected positive job growth in 2014 and 2015 as increased consumer demand and record-high corporate profits spur local economic growth. And, as rental rates continue to climb in New York City, Westchester County will be poised to attract firms seeking comparatively low-cost real estate near Manhattan. The county’s Plan Rye Brook Chapter 10: Commercial Development 142 office market is currently oversaturated with long-term vacancies; therefore inventory is expected to decline as functionally obsolete space is redeveloped as medical office or retail space.20 Locally, recent planning initiatives by White Plains and Harrison, and the proposal by Hilton Westchester-Rye Brook to construct assisted-living and memory-care residences, suggest that property owners are aware of the growing regional demand for senior housing and health care services. Similar development of commercial facilities and other complementary uses may become more commonplace as owners seek to maximize their real estate investments. According to a market trend report by commercial real-estate firm Cushman & Wakefield, Westchester County had a direct vacancy rate of available office space of approximately 16% in the fourth quarter of 2013, up from 14% in 2008 (see Chart 20). Direct rental rates of available office space have fallen from a peak of $31.50 in 2008 down to $29.02 per square foot in the fourth quarter of 2013. Compared with the county as a whole, the eastern submarket, including Rye Brook, had a direct vacancy rate of 16.2% just below the average rate of 16.4% for the county’s suburban market. The eastern region had a higher gross Class A rental rate ($30.62) compared with the county’s suburban market rate ($28.58). A report by CBRE for the fourth quarter of 2013 notes that health-care, biotech, entertainment and educational tenants represent a valuable percentage of the office activity. Several of the available large blocks of space have been repositioned for biotech or medical uses, while repurposing or adaptive reuse of office buildings is also driving market growth. 21 Chart 20: Westchester County Direct Rental vs. Vacancy Rates, 2008 to 2013 Source: Cushman & Wakefield, Marketbeat Office Snapshot, Westchester County, Q4 2013. 20 Cushman & Wakefield, Marketbeat Office Snapshot, Westchester County, Q4 2013. 21 CBRE Global Research and Consulting, MarketView, Westchester County, NY Office, Q4 2013. Plan Rye Brook Chapter 10: Commercial Development 143 As of late 2013, there were two major commercial buildings under development in Westchester County, both scheduled for completion in 2015: a 300,000-square-foot building at 777 Old Saw Mill River Road in Tarrytown, which will be occupied by Regeneron, and an 85,000-square-foot building at 3030 Westchester Avenue in Purchase, which will be occupied by Westmed Medical Group. In addition, several other projects are in the planning stages. North 60, a 60-acre property adjacent to the Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, has identified several potential anchor tenants including a $12.6 million biotechnology incubator for New York Medical College and a 2 million-square-foot biotech and medical park proposed by Fareri Associates. In downtown White Plains, Urstadt Biddle Properties is engaged in the environmental review process for a 1.3 million-square-foot mixed-use redevelopment of Westchester Pavilion with 550 luxury condominiums, a 180-room hotel and 15,000 square feet of office space. 10.6 Issues and Opportunities The discussion and data in this chapter indicate that commercial land uses are critical to maintaining Rye Brook’s fiscal health, and as a result, the quality of life for its residents. However, the particular makeup of those uses may need to evolve to reflect changing regional market conditions as well as shifting employer preferences. As several Fortune 500 companies reduced operations or left the Platinum Mile area entirely in recent years, the office market has opened itself up to smaller corporations with subleasing arrangements in former major corporate headquarters at locations such as 800 Westchester Avenue. While some regional small to mid- size corporations enjoy the amenities of the office park environment, other Westchester County firms have sought out the amenities of downtown locations such as those in White Plains, where a re-energized downtown provides office workers with shopping and dining amenities as well as transit options.22 Other municipalities with significant concentrations of traditional office campuses are facing a similar situation, and have undertaken planning and zoning initiatives to meet the new challenges. For example, White Plains recently changed its zoning in the I-287 corridor to allow for other uses besides office, while Harrison’s adopted 2013 plan supports allowing housing and complementary retail in a key area of the Platinum Mile. Adjust Office Zoning to Promote Viable Development and Redevelopment As discussed earlier, a number of problems are evident with Rye Brook’s office zones and should undergo a comprehensive review to clarify and simplify the regulations, and make them more user-friendly for prospective developers. Specific actions that the Village may consider include:  Eliminate the OB-S zone and rezone the two properties where it is mapped to the C1-P district. Consider including the commercial property that is housed in a residential building between the Port Chester Middle School and Rye Brook Plaza in the C1-P zone.  With the above rezoning in place, consider revising the permitted uses in the OB-2 zone to exclude single-family uses and residential-to-office conversions, as the only remaining 22 Brenner. Plan Rye Brook Chapter 10: Commercial Development 144 uses in the OB-2 zone would be the 760/800 Westchester Avenue office complex and the middle school.  Clean up the permitted and special permit uses in the OB-2 and OB-3 zones to eliminate potential redundancies and minimize confusing cross-references. Uses should be either permitted or subject to a special permit process. If they require a special permit, the requirements and standards for that permit should be provided in one place.  Assess whether separate OB-2 and OB-3 zones are needed, given their identical minimum lot sizes and similar area and bulk regulations.  Consider whether multifamily housing (senior as well as market-rate) should be allowed by special permit in some office zones, along with complementary retail, restaurant or recreational uses. Re-Assess the Provisions of the Planned Unit Development (PUD) Zone Some development in Rye Brook facilitated by the Village’s PUD zone pre-dates the zone’s current regulations and is thus nonconforming. This is particularly the case with the 900 King Street building, which has faced long-standing problems of vacancy throughout its lifetime. Much of this situation reflects the office market, the constantly shifting needs of corporate users and the particulars of the building itself (notably the fact that much of the building is not subdivided, requiring a large tenant). However, some of the facility’s problems may be due to the fact that it is the only major office building in Rye Brook that is not located in an office zone, and that it does not meet the requirements of the PUD zone within which it is sited. Although the facility is a legal nonconforming use, this results in a lack of predictability and potentially diminished options for significant changes to the property, including expansion or infill development that could allow for a repurposing of the site. While the Village clearly desires to carefully control the type of large- scale development that is contemplated by the PUD zone, the following items should be considered for further study:  Remove the locational requirement that PUD zones must be north of the Hutchinson River Parkway. While this would open up two significant properties for potential redevelopment (760/800 Westchester Avenue and Westchester Hilton), these sites are not likely to be redeveloped in the near future given their current use and occupancy, and any redevelopment can be controlled through other provisions of the PUD district. This change would help to make the Arbors and 900 King Street conform to zoning.  Adjust the density requirement for residential uses to a less restrictive regulation that still maintains Rye Brook’s low-density character.  Adjust the FAR requirement for office uses to more closely match modern facilities. The current maximum FAR of 0.12 is highly restrictive; a range of 0.25 to 0.5 may be more appropriate. Plan Rye Brook Chapter 10: Commercial Development 145  Remove the square footage restriction on retail uses (currently capped at 3,500 square feet), and instead require any retail to be accessory to a principal use. Continue to make such uses subject to a special permit.  Allow assisted-living or senior congregate-care facilities to be a maximum of four stories or 45 feet in height, as consistent with typical facilities of this type.  Adjust the parking requirement for assisted-living facilities to 0.5 spaces per unit (current requirement is 0.75 spaces per unit). This more closely matches the actual parking utilization of these facilities, which are extremely low traffic generators. Use Available Tools to Strengthen the Village Center The majority of Rye Brook’s non-office commercial development is found in the Village Center area focused along South Ridge Street at Westchester and Bowman Avenues. Chapter 11 of this plan outlines a series of zoning and urban recommendations to support the vitality of this area, including adjusting height, FAR and yard requirements in the C1 and C1-P zones, allowing multifamily housing in these zones subject to certain criteria, creating a downtown overlay zone and accompanying design guidelines, improving the pedestrian circulation system and enhancing landscaping and signage. 10.7 Commercial Development Recommendations  Abolish the OB-S zone and rezone the areas included in that zone to the C1-P district.  Consider rezoning the commercial property between the Port Chester Middle School and Rye Brook Plaza from OB-2 to C1-P. With this rezoning in place, look at revising the permitted uses in the OB-2 zone to exclude single-family uses and residential-to-office conversions, as the only remaining uses in the OB-2 zone would be the 760/800 Westchester Avenue office complex and the middle school.  Clean up the permitted and special permit uses in the OB-2 and OB-3 zones to eliminate redundancies and minimize confusing cross-references.  Assess whether separate OB-2 and OB-3 zones are needed, given their identical minimum lot sizes and similar area and bulk regulations.  Consider whether multifamily housing should be allowed by special permit in office zones, as well as complementary retail, restaurant or recreational uses.  Consider measures to address issues of nonconformity in PUD zones, including: o Removing the locational requirement that PUD zones must be north of the Hutchinson River Parkway. o Adjusting the density requirement for residential uses to a less restrictive regulation that still maintains Rye Brook’s low-density character. Plan Rye Brook Chapter 10: Commercial Development 146 o Adjusting the FAR requirement for office uses to more closely match modern facilities. The current maximum FAR of 0.12 is highly restrictive; a range of 0.25 to 0.5 may be more appropriate. o Removing the square footage restriction on retail uses, and instead require any retail to be accessory to a principal use. Continue to make such uses subject to a special permit. o Allowing assisted-living or senior congregate-care facilities to be a maximum of four stories or 45 feet in height, as consistent with typical facilities of this type. o Adjusting the parking requirement for assisted living facilities to 0.5 spaces per unit (current requirement is 0.75 spaces per unit) to more closely match the actual parking utilization of these facilities.