Will Amended Redevelopment Plans Change Policy to Address Community Needs?
Or will we see only more unenforceable “guidelines” and “goals”?
On Tuesday, April 14, at 7:00pm, the City Council will hold a public hearing on proposed amendments to the Downtown Overlay Zone (DOZ) to allow for the addition of another 2,800 units of housing, among other things.
When the city first took steps to open the downtown to development in 2015, New Rochelle Against Racism (New RoAR) and other community and labor groups advocated for a robust, legally-binding Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) with Master Developer RDRXR (now RXR), including guarantees of hiring local union labor with apprenticeship opportunities for residents, significant deeply affordable housing, protection for local residents against displacement by new development, a new community center with youth programming, and adequate green space.
The proposed Community Benefits Agreement for Equitable Development gained the most number of “likes” on the city’s 2015 NR Future “crowdsourced placemaking” survey. Despite this, it was rejected.
Instead, with their very limited vision of “community benefits,” the then City Council established a Community Benefits Bonuses and Funds Policy that included very little of what the public sought through a legally binding CBA.
| HOW MUCH OF THE 2015 PROPOSED COMMUNITY BENEFITS AGREEMENT HAS NEW ROCHELLE ACHIEVED? | |
| PROPOSED | ACHIEVED |
| Affordable Housing | |
| 1. Raise the minimum percentage of required affordable housing for all new residential developments (New Rochelle currently has a 10% minimum. NYC currently has a 20% minimum) | No |
| 2. The affordable/low income housing units should be included in the new developments rather than concentrated and isolated | Affordable/low income units were segregated in the past, but this practice will no longer be allowed |
| 3. Affordable housing payments to an affordable housing fund may not be deferred by RDRXR [developer] | No |
| 4. Low Income Housing income should be clearly defined (distinctly from Affordable Housing), and provisions should be made to meet LIH requirements | Developers are permitted to provide fewer than 10% affordable units if they are more deeply affordable; few units are affordable at any level |
| Protecting Residents and Small Businesses | |
| 1. Policies to minimize increases in rents and gentrification in areas surrounding new development | No |
| 2. Policies to protect small businesses from increased rents and new, larger competitors | No |
| 3. Policies to prevent Broken Windows Policing, and the exclusion of homeless and low-income people from newly developed areas | Yes |
| Local Hire | |
| 1. A commitment to employing New Rochelle residents in the construction, maintenance, and retail jobs that the development creates | No. Policy sets goals but does not require developers to meet them, thus making the policy ineffective |
| 2. A policy that includes the hiring of formerly incarcerated people | No |
| 3. Connecting residents to training and apprenticeship programs designed to create long-term careers as opposed to short-term jobs | No ongoing apprenticeship programs. In 2025, city started tracking job retention information for training programs. The data for that one year has not been shared publicly yet. |
| 4. Committing to contracting Minority & Women Owned Business Enterprises | No. Policy sets goals but does not require developers to meet them, thus making the policy ineffective |
| 5. Establish a Chief Diversity Officer position responsible for implementing the tenets of the local hire policy as outlined above | No |
| Living Wage Requirements | |
| 1. All RDRXR [developer] contract workers will be guaranteed a livable wage | No |
| 2. A living wage will be guaranteed to the employees of RDRXR [developer] commercial development property tenants | No |
| 3. RDRXR [developer] will establish a fund to assist small businesses in providing livable wages to their employees | No |
| Union Construction | |
| 1. To ensure the development is built right, built safe, and built on time, all construction jobs must be done with union labor | No |
| 2. To ensure good wages, benefits and working conditions, all building maintenance jobs in the RDRXR [developer] development will be union jobs | No |
| Community Space & Educational Youth Programs | |
| 1. RDRXR [developer] will create truly public community and green spaces for all people to enjoy freely without the prerequisite of purchasing goods or services | No |
| 2. The community space will include a youth center built for and administered by the New Rochelle Parks & Recreation and the Youth Bureau and designated for youth development activities such as My Brother’s Keeper and the Youth Police Initiative | No |
| 3. RDRXR [developer] will fund a predetermined amount of operating capital for this space and these initiatives | No |
The bonuses have allowed developers to gain up to a 20% increase in building heights.
When asked about meeting the wishes of the public as expressed in the 2015 CBA, the city cites a number of steps taken to address community concerns.
The City Council could adopt legally binding policy changes that will result in finally delivering union jobs, apprenticeship opportunities, truly affordable housing, and more as part of their amending the development plan. They will decide in the coming weeks whether to do so.
