Amazon's Planned Whole Foods Purchase Met With Optimism In Chappaqua

CHAPPAQUA, NY - Amazon's proposed acquisition of Whole Foods Market could potentially have a big impact on Chappaqua Crossing, where the grocer is slated to be the anchor tenant of a 120,000-square-foot upcoming retail development. So far, however, affected officials are optimistic.

New Castle Town Supervisor Rob Greenstein told Patch that Amazon is a "strong company to say the least," and added that, with the deal, Whole Foods will be "better positioned" for growth.

The reaction also appears upbeat from Summit/Greenfield, a joint venture between Summit Development and Greenfield Partners that serves as the property's owner.

Greenstein, on his public Facebook page, posted a reaction from Summit President Felix Charney. Including Charney's quote, the town supervisor wrote, "I just asked the developer if this has any impact on Chap Crossing and his response was...."No, good news, stronger credit now"."

Amazon, an e-commerce giant, is offering to buy Whole Foods for about $13.7 billion, a figure that includes the grocer's net debt. The deal is expected to close in the second half of this year, Amazon added in its announcement.

Amazon's press release about the deal can be found here and a Patch national landing page story on the agreement can be read here.

The proposed acquisition is the latest event for what has been a busy spring pertaining to Chappaqua Crossing, which is the former Reader's Digest corporate campus.

At its Tuesday meeting, the New Castle Town Board unanimously approved ending a pair of suspended lawsuits involving Summit/Greenfield, Greenstein told Patch. The lawsuits, which the owner filed in 2011 in federal and state courts, pertained to how then-town officials handled their review of its previous proposal to build 199 units of condominiums and townhouses on the northern and eastern parts of the campus. Rezoning for only 111 units was approved.

A settlement was reached by both sides in December 2012, which suspended the lawsuits and would have them terminated if town officials were to approve the retail project. If officials declined to give approvals, then Summit/Greenfield reserved the right to reactivate the lawsuits.

Greenstein, who was a critic of the 2012 settlement and blasted the then-town officials' handling of the matter when he successfully ran for supervisor in 2013, wound up supporting a revised retail plan. In this week's supervisor's report, Greenstein explained that he changed course because prior officials approved a findings statement in 2013, which is a key document that ended the retail project's environmental review. To stop the project after the findings statement was approved, Greenstein explained, would have harmed the town's legal position.

Greenstein's full recap of his position on Chappaqua Crossing can be read here.

Summit/Greenfield first disclosed its plans involving Whole Foods in late 2013. The parties signed a lease in 2014, according to a filing with the Westchester County Clerk's office.

The lease is for 20 years and comes with an option to extend it for up to 25 years, the filing shows.

The Town Board gave its requisite approvals for the retail project in 2014 and in 2015, this reporter wrote for Daily Voice at the time. A groundbreaking was held for the project in March 2016, this reporter also wrote in a Daily Voice story.

To help with the construction of the retail plan, Summit/Greenfield brought The Grossman Companies on board, the firm noted in a 2016 press release. Summit's operational role in the project's construction has been handled separately from Greenfield.

Earlier this spring, M&T Bank granted $44 million in debt financing to help Summit and Grossman with the project's construction, according to documents filed with the county clerk's office.

The project itself is being handled by a joint venture between Summit and Grossman, according to a May press release from real-estate services firm CBRE, which has helped arrange financing.

Aside from Whole Foods, CBRE noted that other retail tenants will include Life Time Fitness, Chase Bank, AT&T, GoHealth Urgent Care and Pet Valu.

Other recent news involving Chappaqua Crossing includes the listing of future residential spaces at the historic cupola building, which will be a mix of affordable, market rate and work-force rate. The listing website for the apartments can be found here.

Cupola housing developer Wilder Balter took over ownership of the cupola building from Summit/Greenfield, according to county records.

Finally, construction to improve traffic flow at the entrance of nearby Horace Greeley High School's campus will begin next week, according to Greenstein. The Town Board and Summit/Greenfield agreed to the improvement as part of the approval process for the retail plan.

Photo: A rendering, circa 2014, of the proposed Whole Foods building for Chappaqua Crossing. The rendering, which is from Summit/Greenfield, has since been slightly modified.