The most important number in the groundbreaking at 70 Westchester Avenue is not the 203 units or the 331,691 square feet. It is the lender: ACRES Capital, which provided a $96 million first mortgage construction loan in January.
That loan tells you more about the state of development capital than any rendering or ribbon-cutting ever could. Construction debt has not returned broadly. It has returned selectively, for sponsors with balance sheets, locations with demand visibility, and projects that fit within a narrow band of lender appetite.
Cord Meyer Development and Saber Real Estate North fit that band. Cord Meyer is a family-run firm with decades of New York-area experience. Saber brings institutional real estate capital. Together, they are building a ten-story mixed-use project on a site that was previously a one-story car dealership. The basis is clean. The location is visible, directly across from The Westchester shopping center and with immediate access to Interstate 287. The county IDA provided economic development incentives.
That combination of sponsor credibility, site control, and public support is what made the ACRES loan possible. It is not a signal that construction financing is widely available. It is a signal that the market is still bifurcated: capital for the prepared, silence for the rest.
The project economics are worth examining. At 203 units and roughly 331,691 square feet, the average unit size is about 1,634 square feet, which suggests a mix of larger one- and two-bedroom apartments plus studios. The 9,600 square feet of ground-floor retail is modest but provides a commercial anchor. The 266 parking spaces with EV chargers reflect suburban demand patterns. The amenity package, pool, rooftop terrace, coworking spaces, pet spa, is standard for the competitive Westchester rental market.
The $96 million construction loan implies a cost of roughly $473,000 per unit. That is high for White Plains but reflects current construction costs, land basis, and the structured parking component. The developers are betting that White Plains rents, which have grown steadily as Manhattan and Brooklyn renters seek more space and lower costs, will support that basis by early 2028 completion.
That timeline matters. The loan was secured in January 2026. Construction broke ground on June 30. The anticipated completion is early 2028. By then, the interest rate environment could look very different. If rates fall, the project benefits from lower permanent financing costs and stronger buyer demand. If rates stay elevated, the sponsors will need to underwrite tighter margins and potentially higher equity requirements at stabilization.
The county IDA incentives reduce some of that risk by lowering the tax burden during construction and early operations. That is not a minor detail. In a high-cost, high-rate environment, tax abatements can be the difference between a project that pencils and one that sits.
Who benefits from this deal? The developers gain a new project in a growing market. ACRES places capital in a construction loan with a credible sponsor and a defensible basis. The county gets housing units and construction jobs. Future tenants get new supply in a market where multifamily development has been constrained by high costs and difficult financing.
Who is exposed? The lenders, if construction costs overrun or lease-up takes longer than projected. The developers, if the exit cap rate at stabilization compresses their return. And the broader market, if this deal becomes a template that encourages more speculative development before demand is proven.
But the real signal is narrower. Construction debt is not closed. It is available for sponsors who can show a clean site, a credible plan, and a lender who trusts them. That is not a market recovery. It is a market sorting.
The next phase of development will not be defined by who has the best design. It will be defined by who can still command a construction loan.