{"id":391562,"date":"2026-11-03T02:00:33","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T02:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/391562\/"},"modified":"2026-11-03T02:00:33","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T02:00:33","slug":"stagg-group-loses-major-funding-eligibility-at-white-plains-linen-site-peekskill-herald","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/391562\/","title":{"rendered":"Stagg Group Loses Major Funding Eligibility at White Plains Linen Site \u2013 Peekskill Herald"},"content":{"rendered":"

A chemical accident at a New Rochelle construction project in 2025 has had wider implications in Peekskill \u2014halting the proposed 158-unit affordable housing project on the former White Plains Linen site, comprising 418 N. Division St., 407 Highland Ave, 425 Highland Ave., and 427 Highland Ave.<\/p>\n

After the accident reportedly left a worker severely injured at developer Mark Stagg\u2019s Garden Street New Rochelle Project, New York State revoked 418 North Division Street LLC\u2019s eligibility to participate in its Brownfield Cleanup program, along with three other brownfield development projects associated with Stagg in Yonkers and the Bronx, on June 22.<\/p>\n

\"\"The deteriorating industrial building at 418 N Division St. requires major environmental remediation. (Stagg Group\/Newman Design presentation)\n<\/p>\n

However, developer Stagg Group apparently did not pass that memo along to the City of Peekskill or Planning Commission, nor did it come up at several presentations to the city on July 14, Aug. 11, Sept. 9, Sept. 14 and Oct. 15.<\/p>\n

During the Oct. 15 presentation, representatives from Stagg Group provided updated renderings with changes to the architecture, colors, and textures, as well as planned uses for commercial space and a community space, but did not reference environmental remediation at the project site.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe proposed development qualifies for the Brownfield Cleanup program and will require compliance with all hazardous material removal and mitigation requirements implemented by the New York State DEC,\u201d said Planning Chair Jeffrey Stern on Oct. 15, unchallenged by Stagg Group representatives who were present.<\/p>\n

In an email on Monday, Oct. 26, Stern told the Peekskill Herald he was not aware that applicant\u2019s eligibility to participate was revoked until that Monday.<\/p>\n

The information only came to light after four lawsuits were filed against the DEC in September and October challenging each respective property losing their eligibility to participate in the Brownfield Cleanup program, as reported first<\/a> by Talk of the Sound on Oct. 24.<\/p>\n

After the Herald reached out to Director of Planning Carol Samol, City Manager Matthew Alexander sent an email to the Herald on Oct. 29, saying the city is actively reviewing the matter to get a better understanding of the issues and the impacts it may have on the 418 N Division St. application.<\/p>\n

\"\"Rendering of proposed affordable housing project at 418 N. Division St. (Stagg Group\/Newman Design)<\/p>\n

Alexander did not respond to whether the city was already aware of the June 22 determination.<\/p>\n

Developer Mark Stagg did not respond to a phone call request for comment, nor did Stagg Group respond to an inquiry on its website asking how much remediation would cost and if they could do it without the state\u2019s assistance.<\/p>\n

A Herald article on Aug. 4, 2023<\/a>, reported that a representative for building owner CW Realty estimated in 2022 it would cost $100 million to demolish the properties and build a nine-story apartment building, a former project from a Brooklyn developer, at the site off Highland Avenue.<\/p>\n

Presently, Stagg Group seeks a special permit for approval of two stories of bonus height for its overall six-floor mixed-use multi-residential building<\/a> with 158 units, 167,000 square feet of residential space.<\/p>\n

The project has previously been a subject of debate among some city residents who oppose it for its proposed height, potential parking congestion, and seemingly \u201cpoor fit\u201d in a residential neighborhood. The recent news has already provided more ammunition for those against the project.<\/p>\n

\"\"Residents listen to attorney Kathleen Bradshaw and Stagg Group\u2019s senior vice president Jay Martino at a community meeting on Aug. 13, 2025. (Eric Harvey<\/a>)\n<\/p>\n

In a phone call with the Herald, resident Leslie Lawler, who has previously spoken out against the project, shared her reaction to the news about the June 22 determination.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very disappointed that the City of Peekskill either did not know about this information, or if they did, did not share this with the community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In a lawsuit filed in Bronx Supreme Court on Sept. 14, Albert Pirro, attorney representing 418 North Division Street LLC, said prior to the June 22 determination, a Brownfield Cleanup program application had been submitted to the DEC and the property was notified that the application was complete and it should begin the process of public notice of the application.<\/p>\n

Pirro noted, \u201cDEC\u2019s instructions to petitioner to begin the public notice was inherently based upon the Highland Light Site serving the public interest: remediating and redeveloping the Highland Light Site that was fairly likely to become an affordable housing project, that would increase neighboring property values and the local tax base, ameliorate public health risks and environmental justice concerns, address food deserts, and spur additional investment in the community \u2014 accomplishing all public interest goals and the goal of the BCP.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Pirro wrote the only reason the department changed its course of action is because of an accident that occurred at an \u201cunrelated site\u201d that, according to Pirro, had been fully remediated by a number of limited liability companies \u201ctotally unrelated\u201d to 418 N Division St. with the exception of \u201cone similar member named Mark Stagg.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Mark Stagg participates in a Turkey Drive in 2024. (Stagg Group website)\n<\/p>\n

According to Pirro, no final determination has been made to the unrelated Cottage-Garden site and due process is proceeding. He described the treatment of the other sites that Mark Stagg has an interest in as \u201cpervasive\u201d and demonstrating the department\u2019s \u201cabuse of discretion.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The LLC seeks an order vacating the DEC\u2019s determination that the site is ineligible for participation in the Brownfield Cleanup Program and for the DEC to reimburse the LLC its damages and costs, including reasonable attorneys\u2019 fees, arising from the determination of ineligibility into the program.<\/p>\n

The Herald reached Pirro over the phone who said he was in a meeting at the time and would email the Herald, but has not yet as of this writing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A chemical accident at a New Rochelle construction project in 2025 has had wider implications in Peekskill \u2014halting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":391563,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,9,24,63,129,131,130],"class_list":["post-391562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=391562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391562\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/391563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=391562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=391562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=391562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}