NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Doug Hocking, an architect with Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates in New York City, has resigned his position as Chariman of the New Rochelle Planning Board after “conflct-of-interest” issues were raised a month ago by Talk of the Sound.
Hocking submitted a letter to New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson earlier today, according to sources at City Hall. The City Council was informed of Hocking’s decision this afternoon.
Bramson had nothing but praise for Hocking.
Bramson is expected to move quickly to fill the position.
The matter came to light after Talk of the Sound obtained Board of Ethics disclousre records under a Freedom of Information request which showed that Hocking failed to disclose in 2015 that Kohn Pedersen Fox, the firm where he is a Principal had an existing business relationship with RXR Realty, the RXR in RDRXR. Hocking also failed to disclose that he was part of a KPF team that did work in New Rochelle at no charge, for RDRXR, in 2015.
Hocking first publicly acknowledged the conflict when he recused himself during a presentation pertaining to RDRXR at a Planning Board meeting in September 2015.
Concerns at City Hall were first made public at a City Council meeting on April 19 when the New Rochelle City Council went into executive session to discuss conflicts of interest and transparency of elected and appointed board members in the government of the City of New Rochelle. Council Member Al Tarantino expressed his concerns about Hocking after the City Council was asked to approve two resolutions pertaining to the Downtown Overlay Zone which directly impact RDRXR and which were recommended by the New Rochelle Planning Board. On March 22, 2016, the Planning Board voted unanimously 7-0 to approve the proposed resolutions. Both unanimous votes included votes by Hocking,
RDRXR, a real estate development partnership venture involving RXR Realty and Renaissance Downtown, is the designated Master Developer for downtown New Rochelle. Under a recently approved “zoning overlay”, the Planning Board, which Hocking had chaired, has been granted unprecedented authority over the future development of downtown New Rochelle. The two elements of the conflict of interest arose concurrently; Hocking’s firm was beginning work on a high profile RXR Realty project at Rockefeller Center while RDRXR was bidding to become the city’s Master Developer.
Hocking did not respond to request for comment.
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