Construction is underway at Underhill Farms, where townhouses, age-restricted units, and luxury apartments are being built with some changes recently made to the original site plan for the complex.
Changes will include not installing crosswalks at the northern and eastern sides of the intersection of Route 118 and Underhill Avenue, putting in generators for the apartment and condominium buildings at the site, and putting an irrigation pump house adjacent to the parking spaces near the pond, approved by the Planning Board on March 2.
Those changes are the latest updates for Underhill Farms, a complex that will include a mix of residential units and shops once completed. Since planning began about four years ago, the developer has addressed residents’ concerns and town officials’ concerns about traffic, density, and historic preservation.
Another approved change moves townhouse building No. 11 from the northern side of the cul-de-sac to the eastern side. The 4-unit building will now be closer to Beaver Ridge and Glen Rock Street, according to Joseph Riina, a project engineer for Site Design Consultants, who is working with the applicant for the project.
Riina said during a Feb. 9 planning board meeting that the wall along the cul-de-sac will be 8 feet high and will be the same type of wall as the wall behind the townhouses. Riina also appeared before the board on March 2 and mostly all the hearings for the project.
“That’s a good change,” Planning Board Chairman Richard Fon said on March 2 in reference to the townhouse and cul-de-sac.
The most recent changes aren’t the first time amendments have been made to the original site plan, which is for constructing 80 condominium units, 48 townhouses, a 32-unit condominium building for people 55 and older, and a mixed-use building with 68 apartments. The project will also include 15,600 square feet of retail and office space that includes 8,100 square feet of new retail space. The existing Underhill House will be reused on two separate parcels of land.
Allan Rothman, who works with the developer, told Yorktown News rents for one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments at Underhill Farms will start at $3,400 per month, with three-bedroom units expected to rent for around $5,500. Some apartments are expected to be ready in April, with additional units anticipated in May.
The development will also include condominiums restricted to residents 55 and older, expected to sell for between $700,000 and $800,000, with buyers purchasing them similar to a home through a mortgage rather than renting, according to Rothman.
Fon said in an interview with Yorktown News that changes to a site plan like this one are part of the development process.
“It’s normal with development for issues to come up and new approvals to be needed,” Fon said. “They are going to see tweaks and things they need to do along the way.”
Two years ago, the Yorktown Town Board denied an application to make the property a historical designation, citing financial reasons. The planning board is currently awaiting information from the Yorktown Heritage Preservation Commission about putting signage at the complex about the area’s historical significance.
Three years ago, residents spoke about their concerns during a lengthy public hearing regarding the project with traffic and density being among their main concerns.
The project has come a long way since then.
In January, a 6-foot fence along Glen Rock Street was taken out of the plan and arborvitaes, spruce and maple trees will be planted in that area. Traffic updates were also discussed in January.
Philip Grealy, principal at Colliers Engineering and Design, who is working with the developer, said at a Jan. 12 planning board meeting that work is being done on the telephone poles at the intersection of Route 118 and Saw Mill River Road, which will also have a new traffic control signal with push buttons.
Grealy spoke at the January meeting about sidewalks and pedestrian crossings for the project. A new sidewalk will be put in along the south side of Underhill Avenue. The current crosswalk is being is being widened and there will be another crosswalk at the southwest corner of the intersection. Another crosswalk will be located by the entrance to Underhill Farms that will connect to the sidewalk on the south side of Underhill Avenue, according to Grealy.
The developer is looking for certificates of occupancy in the coming month. Traffic work will be up and running in a month or two, Fon said.
“We’re in a good place right now,” Fon told Yorktown News. “The project is very well underway.”
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