At least four massive redevelopment proposals from the same unusual group of developers have circulated through Rye over the last year, each more expansive than the last.
The latest calls for an overhaul of the Rye Subaru dealership on Boston Post Road, converting the property into hundreds of new apartment units, multiple commercial businesses, and a park. Other proposals envision new athletic fields at the Rye Golf Club and 21-23 Nursery Lane.
And now the group says it also wants to help shape Rye’s long-outdated comprehensive plan.
The catch? Nobody knows who they are — or their motives.
Rye’s overdue comprehensive plan is the latest target of the so-called “Rye Community Planning Collaborative.”
The mysterious group disseminates its proposals from an encrypted email account and doesn’t sign off with a name or offer additional contact information. The emails end with a blurb that reads, in part, “We turn overlooked ideas into actionable proposals, maintaining anonymity to reduce resistance and bias.”
The Record requested an interview with members of the group many times for this article, but the group declined.
“We appreciate the interest, but we believe our proposals stand on their own merit (as imperfect as they may be),” they told The Record from their RyeCPC@proton.me email account.
The group does not appear to have communicated much, if at all, with city leaders.
But in several email exchanges with The Record, they confirmed that the group formed in 2022. When asked how many people it included, Rye CPC’s reply was more cryptic: “More than 10 and less than 20.”
And they didn’t respond to a question about whether all of its members are Rye residents.
Rather than discussing their proposals openly, the group hopes to “serve as a constructive foundation for planning conversations without the need for meetings at this stage,” they said.
The proposals, however, have elicited the opposite response — mostly water cooler talk that city officials are dismissing.
“They’re certainly not doing it on the city’s behalf,” City Manager Greg Usry told The Record. “I don’t know what’s compelling them to do it.”
The general blasé attitude about the group was more evident after the secretive group announced in an email last month its intention to “inform and shape” the city’s comprehensive plan — which the City Council said it would begin the lengthy process of updating this fall.
The plan — last drafted in 1985 — is a zoning and infrastructure document that guides development, sustainability, and the preservation of community character.
The group even said it hopes to loop in New York City-based urban design firm BFJ Planning — the same firm contracted by the city in 2017, the last time it attempted to update the plan. (A change in mayors and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic stalled those efforts indefinitely.)
But both BFJ and Usry said the firm has nothing to do with the secretive group or its proposals. In addition, Usry said the city hasn’t chosen a firm yet to spearhead a new comprehensive plan.
“We have not signed one piece of paper, paid [BFJ] one dollar,” he said.
Usry said he has seen some of the anonymous group’s proposals and has offered to meet, but the group has have never taken him up on it.
“We have received a few different concepts from what seems to be the same group,” he said. “Each time I’ve responded … and I have not yet ever received a response.”
Usry and other city officials said that the group’s interest in the comprehensive plan and its various proposals is not reciprocated.
Development in Rye
The anonymous group’s interest in the city’s new comprehensive plan comes as Rye seems to be at a development crossroads.
While the downtown hosts a collection of low-rise small businesses and restaurants, two recent new buildings have triggered alarm bells for those who feel the city’s charm is synonymous with its small-town feel. One of those projects has already popped up at 12 Purdy Ave., and the other — another three-story mixed retail-residential building at 11-15 Purdy Ave. — was also recently approved.
The enigmatic group first pulled the curtain back in 2023, proposing new athletic fields at Rye Golf Club and on Nursery Lane.
Rye Golf Club Manager Chris Correale confirmed with The Record that he had seen the athletic fields proposal, dated Dec. 15, 2023, which included the installation of four new multipurpose fields at the golf course by tearing up some of the club’s greens.
Correale said the proposal was “kind of a nothing for us.”
“I don’t know who they are … and I haven’t even heard about it since then,” Correale said.
But the group continued to work in the shadows, expanding its vision for Rye.
The group’s April 2024 Subaru redevelopment plan — a 22-page document the group is urging the City Council to consider as they update the comprehensive plan — is by far its most grandiose.
It calls for an overhaul of the privately owned footprint on Boston Post Road — essentially transforming the .44-acre property from a one-story commercial business on a large parking lot to a residential complex with 120 studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartments, as well as 157 parking spaces, and a park.
There’s even a plan to revamp and integrate the city’s adjoining court and police station.
The Subaru property is owned by Rye Real Estate Associates LLC. Subaru site manager Eric Pagan told The Record he and the dealership’s property owner had heard about the redevelopment proposal, but didn’t think much of it.
In fact, the pair laughed it off.
“[We] had a chuckle over it,” Pagan said, adding that the proposal was both elaborate and also “nothing.”
The secretive development group says the property’s proximity to the Rye Metro-North station is what makes it a coveted location for multi-family housing stock. To allow the transit-oriented development to become a reality, the group even suggests the Subaru dealership relocate or merge with another dealership in town to free up the space.
“This proposal aims to provide long-term incentives for development and sustainable community planning by focusing on transit-oriented solutions and diversified land use,” the proposal states. “It leverages the full potential of the property for the benefit of both the property owner and the city.”
While the group provided a financial analysis on the potential net profit, rate of return, and tax revenue, it did not estimate the project’s total cost — which it said would also include a traffic study and environmental assessment.
Nick Everett, the chairman of the city’s Planning Commission, told The Record the Subaru lot and other areas around the train station have been discussed as possible transit-oriented housing sites for a long time. But, he said, the mysterious group’s proposal for this specific site isn’t really worth thinking about.
“I have no respect for anyone who wants to be anonymous,” Everett said. “So I really haven’t paid them much attention.”
Usry, who received the proposal from the group, confirmed that Subaru has no plans to redevelop the property.
And more than that, they should “go talk to Subaru,” he said. “We have nothing to do with it.”
For privately owned property — like the Subaru lot — a development project would have to get the green light from Rye’s Building Department and its land-use boards. The only time the City Council would get involved in a private-property development is if it wasn’t compliant with zoning codes.
The size and scope of the Subaru plan rivals the $77 million Avalon Harrison development. That 2021 project created 143 new apartments, 27,000 feet of retail space, and nearly 800 new parking spots adjacent to the Harrison Metro-North train station on Halstead Avenue. And though it took years to build, it’s just one of several major projects in neighboring communities that have added to development pressures in Rye.
Development proponents argue more housing in particular is needed to combat soaring rent and real estate prices. According to Zillow the median household rent in Rye is $2,175. And that’s nothing compared to the average cost of a home, which is $2 million in Rye,up more than 7 percent in the last year.
Though Everett isn’t interested in entertaining the secretive group’s proposals, he did concede that investment and zoning changes are needed in Rye.
“In a general sense, we as a town, we as a society, you can’t be afraid of change,” he said. “You have to try to sculpt the change so that it benefits the entire community.”
And as far as transit-oriented development, Everett said “the city of Rye should take the bull by the horns and figure out where they’d want to put transit-oriented development before it gets mandated.”
While many believe development in Rye may be at an inflection point, there are no projects on the horizon anywhere near as elaborate as the ones the anonymous developers are floating.
Additionally, Rye’s comprehensive plan is expected to take years to complete.
But as long as the group continues working in secrecy, city officials seem firm that they’re not worth taking seriously.
“I don’t know who they are,” City Councilman Josh Nathan said. “It’s simply not possible or realistic for the city to engage in a discussion of this nature with a person or group that is anonymous.”
Usry said he’s “more than happy” to meet with them and consider what they’re suggesting.
But, he added, “there’s nothing I can do if they’re just emailing people.”
