Agency hopes to see housing complex at site
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority anticipates awarding development rights to convert a parking lot at the Beacon Metro-North station into a housing complex with hundreds of apartments in the third quarter of 2025.
The timeline was among the details agency representatives shared with the City Council on Monday (Nov. 18). The MTA on Nov. 1 issued a request for proposals to create a transit-oriented development in the station’s 4-acre north lot. Proposals are due Dec. 18.
Respondents will be narrowed down early next year. After a developer is chosen and approved by the MTA board, the city Planning Board could begin its review early in 2026. The project, which will create around 300 rental units, along with commercial or retail space, must comply with Beacon zoning laws and the all-electric building law, which bans fossil fuels from new construction.
New York State is pushing for the riverside development to address a statewide housing shortage and to take advantage of $500 million in funding authorized by Gov. Kathy Hochul, a portion of which will be used to replace the 483 commuter spaces in the north lot, possibly through the creation of a parking garage in the station’s center lot.
“One of the most difficult things that we face when we’re developing a property in our service territories is how to replace the existing parking,” said Nick Roberts, a real estate manager for the MTA, on Monday. “Unsubsidized, the cost to replace the parking would effectively put this project in the red from the outset.”
While the state funding will help replace commuter parking, it cannot be used for spaces required for the housing units. The southern parking lot is also being eyed as a development site “at some point in the future,” Roberts said.
The MTA sought “expressions of interest” for creating a transit-oriented development at the station 17 years ago. However, the idea never gained traction after backlash from the community and fears it would draw customers from Main Street. This time around, Main Street is thriving and the waterfront has been rezoned to not compete with the shops on Main.
Still, development at the train station should “meet the needs of people” by including essentials such as supermarkets or pharmacies, Council Member Dan Aymar-Blair said Monday.
The MTA expects to receive “impressively designed” proposals “intended to activate the station area and facilitate this greater connection between the station area and the rest of the city,” Roberts said. The agency will lease the project site — but not the entire station — to a developer for 99 years.
The request for proposals does not specify the size of the apartments, but conversations with developers have revealed a “strong preference” for building studio and one-bedroom apartments “targeted to a demographic of people in their 20s and 30s and people who are looking to downsize,” Roberts said.
State law gives the MTA the authority to implement a payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, arrangement with the city. Roberts and Andy Buder, the director of government and community relations for Metro-North, had few details Monday but said the agency “will figure out a revenue-sharing methodology as we get farther through this process.”
I would like to instead propose a moratorium on new housing projects in Beacon. Enough is enough!
The MTA and the “powers that be” are determined to destroy the economy of Main Street and Beacon’s uniqueness. TODs are part of the United Nation’s harebrained agendas, beginning with Agenda 2021. This project was shot down a decade ago for good reason. I won’t be around to see it, but 20 years from inception this project will become a massive slum and a drain on Beacon’s finances. Shame on you all.
This proposal begs the question: What is the goal for development in Beacon? Is there a number of residences deemed to be the maximum for the community, considering its resources, space, density, etc.?
Adding 1,000 residences in the last 10 years and considering 1,600 more from this project and a prison conversion equals roughly 50 percent more residences in a relatively short span of time. A clear goal with appropriate limits and designations (e.g., “affordable” as a high percentage of the total and not an afterthought) is something that the city leadership should communicate before more housing is proposed. [via Instagram]
To the respondents to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority request for proposals for a development at the Metro-North station in Beacon: You should budget significant sums to cover cost overruns associated with opposition to the plan.
To the MTA, the mayor and City Council: still no specifics on the number of non-Beacon commuter parking spaces that might be added (as opposed to the number that should be removed because there are more residents who no longer need to commute) or on how you will address the traffic problem you caused and have only made worse.
To any City Council member who thinks we need grocery stores and pharmacies at the waterfront: It’s not good to have that on your resume if you want to stay in office.