WPCNR Main Street Journal. By John F. Bailey. March 11, 2004, Updated with Pictures 12:30 A.M. E.S.T.: In an interview with WPCNR late Thursday afternoon, an ebullient Louis Cappelli announced “major institutional investors” were lining up to pump $400 Million into new retail outlets in the first floors of his North Citadel Apartments and in his Main Street Cappelli Hotel complex, which he expects to begin construction in June, pending Common Council approval of the project.

 He disclosed his friend, Donald Trump, a visitor to the City Center complex on January 7, is interested in investing in the South Condoplex which Cappelli reports as having  been redesigned by Mr.Trump’s lead residential architect,  Costas Kondylis, designer of Trump's World Tower on 47th and 48th Streets in N.Y. Cappelli said construction  will resume from the 9^th floor on the City Center  South Complex next Wednesday.

In another major thrust to City Center fulfillment, the Super Developer announced he has signed a lease granting L.A. Fitness the sprawling health club in the sky with a view he is building atop the new City Center garage.

L.A. FITNESS COMPLEX SITE: Photographed February 18, Louis Cappelli's health club under construction on top two floors of City Center Garage. Bridge to City Center is in extreme right of photograph. Photo fromWPCNR News Archive.

Mr. Cappelli calls LAF  “ultra high end of fitness clubs. Where all the pretty girls go.” He reports the amenities the L.A. Fitness complex will have include a basketball court, two racquet ball courts, two squash courts and an Olympic-size swimming pool. He said the health club plans to start pumping iron and pounding NordicTraks  September 1. “We’ve been negotiating for three months,” he said.

Reeling off development coups mortal developers would die for like a seasoned croupier rakes in the investor chips, Cappelli continued, so breathless with excitement, you almost expected him to say, “and that’s not all.”

 North Citadel Apartment Models Open this Weekend. Tenants In First of April.

Cappelli proudly announced that furnished models in the North Citadel will be open for view this Saturday, and he said they were “spectacular.” He has also welcomed his first tenant, who has rented one of the top floor units.

NORTH CITADEL OF THE CITY CENTER seen coming East on Main Street. Photo from WPCNR NewsArchive

He described the tenant as a retired couple who sold their home in Fort Lee, New Jersey, and plan to live in Florida during the winter, and in the City Center apartment the rest of the year, “fitting our demographic perfectly,” the Super Developer said. He said the apartment spire has a waiting list of 10, with its first occupant to be taking up residence in three weeks.

Cappelli, perhaps the most optimistic, focused individual you will ever meet told WPCNR, “Some people believe the rental market is soft, Louis Cappelli does not believe that to be so.”

Full Steam Ahead on the South Condoplex. Major Tweak in Design Done by The Man from TRUMP.

Cappelli put to rest rumors of troubles in City Center that have swirled the last six weeks when activity at the South Condoplex stopped. As reported by WPCNR this week, Mr. Cappelli said it has taken six months to redesign the South Condo Citadel to design and engineer aesthetically the expanded condominium floor plans to fit the condo market.

Cappelli said the plex was reconfigured from a design and engineering perspective by Costas Kondylis  & Partners Architects, (www.kondylis.com)  whom Cappelli said was Donald Trump’s primary architectural designer for Mr. Trump’s residential properties.

Designer of the Trump World Tower Spiffs Up the South Condoplex

Costas Kondylis, according to his website has built 45 highrise buildings around New York City, including the Trump World Tower, the 72-floor, 90-story stunner next to the United Nations. Kondylis in a biography on his website said the World Tower was built in 18 months, and design was done as the building was progressing. Kondylis added that nowadays it is not necessary to spend three years designing a building then building it. Mr. Cappelli, too, is not one to follow a bad idea when he discovers a better way. 

Herbert Muschamp of The New York Times describes the Trump World tower this way: "Aggression and desire, violence and sex, put them together and you have Trump Tower," and goes on to write:

From downtown, the tower also makes a good impression. Its visual appeal derives, first of all, from the contrast between its amplitude of scale and its simplicity of shape. Then, like the Empire State Building, there is an unbalanced ratio of width to depth. Depending on your perspective, the tower shifts from sliveresque to monolithic. After all the frou-frou launched into the skyline for the past generation - the fussy attempts at three-dimensional collage; the ersatz Art Deco confections weighed down by stepped silhouettes and ornate crowns - it is pleasing to see a flat roof raised to the top of the skyline by four flush glass walls. From downtown, the tower also makes a good impression. Its visual appeal derives, first of all, from the contrast between its amplitude of scale and its simplicity of shape. Then, like the Empire State Building, there is an unbalanced ratio of width to depth. Depending on your perspective, the tower shifts from sliveresque to monolithic. After all the frou-frou launched into the skyline for the past generation - the fussy attempts at three-dimensional collage; the ersatz Art Deco confections weighed down by stepped silhouettes and ornate crowns - it is pleasing to see a flat roof raised to the top of the skyline by four flush glass walls.

A Trump Deal?

Asked if Mr. Trump was interested in the South Condoplex as an investor, Mr. Cappelli said it was not appropriate for him to speak for Mr. Trump, “that should come from him, but Mr. Trump is contemplating  the projection of the Trump name in White Plains.”

LOUIS CAPPELLI, "THE SUPER DEVELOPER" from an appearance on White Plains Week. Photo by WPCNR News. 

DONALD TRUMP Photo by Photo Rozzi

Cappelli said the South Condoplex of 34 stories will be a richer darker building, consisting of a “bronze metal brushed window treatment, with a bleached beige, oyster brick exterior,” giving the building a distinctive elegant look, yet elegantly complimenting its Northern twin. The look is similar, Mr. Cappelli said to Donald Trump’s taste in building exteriors.

Cappelli has promised the design to be revealed shortly.

There is No Place Like White Plains

Mr. Cappelli advised the CitizeNetReporter  that “there is no place like White Plains.” He explained that “major instiutional investors” are lining up to invest a total of $400 Million in new retail in both the base of the North Apartment Complex in the City Center on Main Street and the Westin Hotel and Retail complex planned on his 221 Main street Cappelli Hotel project.

Asked if he would retain control of both City Center and the Cappelli Hotel properties, the Super Developer said the investors are looking to come in as partners. He had not made up his mind whether to keep control of the properties or retain simply a piece of them, giving major interest to other major partners who wish to come in. He did not say he would retain majority interest, and did not say he would not.

Cappelli updated WPCNR on the status of his 90-day window deal for the Bar Building annex, saying he had forwarded the contracts to the Longhitanos.

CITY CENTER LEASED UP

Cappelli said that Office Max was taking the last 25,000 square feet next to Filene’s Basement on the second floor of the City Center, wrapping up rental on the City Center.

He said Legal Seafood is coming along and is 80% finished, saying it should be open in mid-April. Its neighbor on the corner, Zanaro’s, Cappelli said is going to be “the most spectacular restaurant in Westchester County, in the region.”

Cappelli said all his City Center leases are for 15 years, with an option for 25. He described LA Fitness lease as a 15 year lease.