Council reviews final EIS and modified plan for Galleria district; developers propose 3,000 units with 27% affordable

The Common Council on May 27 heard presentations from city staff and the Galleria City Holding Company on the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) and a modified conceptual development plan for the Galleria district, a large, transit‑oriented redevelopment of the former Galleria Mall and adjacent city‑owned garage properties.

Commissioner Gomez, speaking for the City of White Plains as lead agency under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), summarized the SEQRA process to date: the draft EIS acceptance in October 2024, public hearings in January and February, incorporation of about 20 oral comments and roughly 10 to 11 written comments, and public posting of appendices including traffic and technical studies. Gomez said the FEIS must be accepted as complete by the council before the city can issue final environmental findings and, only then, consider final zoning actions or site plan approvals.

Mark Weingarten, counsel for the applicant Galleria City Holding Company LLC, presented a revised "preferred alternative" that the development team said reduces some commercial square footage while increasing affordable housing. Weingarten said the modified plan proposes 3,000 total residences (the FEIS also studied a larger 3,200-unit scenario), approximately 96,000 square feet of retail, and 3,140 parking spaces. He told the council the project will "qualify for LEED Silver status."

Weingarten said the applicant will provide the 12% affordable housing requirement (about 300 affordable units) inside towers and add about 500 additional affordable units in two buildings sited on property currently owned by the city (the garage properties), bringing the total affordable units to roughly 800 units, or about 27% of the projected total, the applicant said.

Kathleen Hennessy of the design team walked the council through renderings showing seven major buildings, multiple public plazas and pocket parks, and a publicly accessible elevated plaza above the garage at the site of the two proposed affordable buildings. She described an overall plan that emphasizes active street frontages, pedestrian plazas, and more than 50% combined public and private open space across the project.

Council members asked about appendices and data; Commissioner Gomez said the technical appendices (traffic studies and other analyses) are publicly posted on the city planning website and were included with the meeting materials. Council members also asked about LEED designation; Commissioner Gomez and the applicant explained projects often design to LEED benchmarks without pursuing formal certification because certification can add cost, though the team said the project would meet LEED Silver criteria.

Weingarten described the development as a transformational, "$2.5 billion" investment and stressed the project's transit orientation, public open space and a mix of retail and entertainment space. He asked the council to accept the FEIS as complete at a forthcoming meeting and said the applicant hopes the FEIS can be on the council agenda as soon as June 10 to advance the review schedule.

No final zoning amendment or site-plan approval was taken at the May 27 meeting; the council remains the SEQRA lead agency and must accept the FEIS as complete and later issue written SEQRA findings before any zoning vote can occur.