Page 45 - 2023 Westchester County Economic Development Guide

Above: e Peekskill riverfront.
Right: A panoramic view of the LINC in New Rochelle.
Peekskill: Upgrades, Rebranding and Small Business Support
e City of Peekskill was awarded a $10
million DRI grant in 2019. e DRI award will catalyze innovative publicly- and privately-
led improvements to Peekskill’s downtown
and waterfront. ese projects will focus on providing safe and convenient pedestrian amenities that link existing community assets with new sites for tourism, the arts, recreation and business growth, generating employment opportunities for a range of skill and wage levels.
Planned improvements include upgrading plazas and reimagining certain streetscapes, enhancing the attractiveness of the downtown environment and connecting Peekskill’s waterfront with the city’s downtown core.
e Downtown Revitalization Fund has been created using DRI grant funds to help small businesses in the DRI area to make capital improvements. e fund is available to owners of existing businesses, owners starting new businesses, and owners of buildings
that include commercial spaces. Funding
will additionally help fuel a new brand and communications strategy to showcase the city’s identity to residents and visitors.
New Rochelle: An Evolving, Interconnected Downtown
e Lincoln Avenue Corridor of New Rochelle was awarded a $10 million DRI grant in 2018. e marquis project of the DRI is the LINC, which will connect New Rochelle’s dynamic and evolving city center with the mile-long Lincoln Avenue Corridor that contains mixed-income residential housing, a newly renovated hospital, green space, a Metro North Train Station and part of the city’s Arts and Cultural District.
With an additional $13 million federal grant to increase programming along the corridor, the LINC project has kicked off with a design workshop that evaluates potential uses for the park. Due to comprehensive community engagement that took place, the design process will integrate resident feedback from the surrounding neighborhoods. e design process is slated to be completed at the end 2023, with construction initiated in 2024 and completed by 2027.
New Rochelle’s Strategic Investment Plan
is building upon significant public-private investment over the past few years to spur commercial, residential, and mixed-use development in the city. Twelve of the projects are complete, 12 are under construction
and several more are approved and will be beginning construction in the near future.
“A robust investment in our infrastructure is transforming our city. Enhancements include improvement and expansion of the downtown zone, enhanced green features, improving access to the train station, a very robust minority owned business incubation acceleration program, and a popular holiday market program. We are continuing to look for opportunities to advance the
great entrepreneurial energy we have here. When it comes to New Rochelle, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. When you’re downtown, you can turn 360 degrees and see a city with an ever-expanding range of goods and services and surging with new life.”
—New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson
WESTCHESTER COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE 43
© Courtesy of the City of New Rochelle