NEW ROCHELLE, NY (June 30, 2026) — Mayor Yadira Ramos-Herbert described New Rochelle’s decade-long downtown redevelopment push during a Pew Charitable Trusts webinar, telling national housing experts that the city’s “New Rochelle Model” has authorized roughly 11,000 housing units while keeping rents in check between 2021 and 2023.
Ramos-Herbert appeared alongside Chuck Marohn of Strong Towns and Ben Holland on the panel hosted by Tushar Kansal, who works with Pew’s housing policy initiative, discussing the fiscal case for building homes near jobs and transit. The mayor described the city’s 2015 public-private partnership with developer RXR, which created the Downtown Overlay Zone, allowing city planning staff to approve projects administratively rather than sending each one before the City Council.
“That allowed developers to work directly with our professional planning staff rather than bringing every project before the City Council,” Ramos-Herbert said, adding that advance environmental reviews give developers cost certainty and reduce delays from organized opposition.
The mayor said the city has authorized about 11,000 units under the program, with roughly 5,500 built since 2019 or 2020. Another 2,800 units are now under consideration, she said, including redevelopment of a church site that burned down about a decade ago.
Ramos-Herbert said the zone requires a 10% affordable housing set-aside but developers are trending closer to 18% due to city incentives. She credited development revenue with funding a Black Box Theater on Main Street, a free electric shuttle, workforce development programs and $10 million in annual flood mitigation spending, saying New York’s 2% property tax cap limits other revenue options.
Asked about downsides, Ramos-Herbert pointed to construction noise and disruption, calling the city’s current phase “the teenage years” of redevelopment. She said she holds monthly “Coffee with the Mayor” events across the city and that staff produced a one-page graphic showing 68 new businesses have opened and remained open since 2020, including $2 million in city support for 16 businesses.
On who is moving into the new buildings, Ramos-Herbert cited a staff analysis finding about 25% of new downtown residents are existing New Rochelle residents downsizing, another 25% are from surrounding Westchester municipalities, and about 30% are relocating from New York City. She said the buildings are 90% to 95% leased.
Ramos-Herbert said the city is now looking beyond downtown high-rises toward smaller multifamily housing, townhouses, duplexes and accessory dwelling units (ADUs) for the proposed 2,800 additional units. She also referenced The LINC, a planned 1.5-mile linear park project converting a former highway segment near the train station, and the city’s Green NR sustainability initiative.
She said New Rochelle’s downtown sits roughly 30 to 38 minutes from Grand Central Terminal via Metro-North.
“Start somewhere. Start small. Just start somewhere,” Ramos-Herbert told other municipalities considering similar reforms, citing a smaller neighboring municipality that redeveloped a parking lot into housing, a new Town Hall and a fire station.
This article was prepared with the assistance of AI tools under the direction and editing of Robert Cox.
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