The White Plains Courtyard was recently named the first Bronx brownfield site and first brownfield redevelopment project that delivers newly constructed affordable, workforce housing to receive a “Track 1” Certificate of Completion.
And in celebrating efforts to clean the once contaminated site, Borough President Adolfo Carrion, Jr. awarded Arker Companies, the site’s developer, with an Environmental Citation on Tuesday, April 29.
The seven story, 120,000 square foot facility replaced a shuttered gas station with a Staples that occupies 16,500 square feet and employs 30 full and part-time employees. In addition, 100 units of affordable housing occupy the remaining space.
Its current “Track 1” designation means the once-contaminated site satisfied the most stringent standards imposed by the state’s Brownfield Cleanup Program and qualified the site for ‘unrestricted use’ in its redevelopment.
As a result of its participation in the Brownfield Cleanup Program, the development received tax credits through the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development, tax-exempt bonds through New York City Housing Development Corporation and financial and technical support through the state DEC.
“Under the leadership of Mayor Bloomberg, the city’s housing agencies were instrumental in making White Plains Courtyard a reality,” said Sol Arker, a principal of The Arker Companies, which has created more than 5,000 apartments for the real estate market over the last 18 years.
