Brothers hope to develop on Byram River

By Ryan Jockers
Staff Writer

April 21, 2002

The Wahba brothers, two business-minded 20-somethings, want to start a trend. It has nothing to do with fashion. It has to do with revitalizing Byram.

James and John Wahba want to put into play an idea that has been promoted in various circles at least since the inception of a neighborhood master plan two years ago: residential development with public access on the primarily industrial Byram waterfront.

The brothers from Green-wich hope that the condominium project they have proposed will begin a slow march of housing replacing industry up the river from their site toward Mill Street, linking the village center with the waterfront.

"Byram is a walking community, and this will add to that," said John Wahba, who is 22 and lives in the SoHo section of New York City with his brother James, 25.

On a mostly vacant, 2-acre patch of land on South Water Street, between a gray block commercial building and a boat storage yard, the Wahbas envision 47 upscale condominium units, each with a deck offering river views and a boat slip in the marina that is part of the development.

A boardwalk would lead from South Water Street to the riverfront, allowing public access.

Standing at the property's edge, a stone's throw from the new Costco in Port Chester, N.Y., the brothers said that with the $100 million redevelopment project shaping up across the river, they wanted to try to revive this part of their hometown.

"Port Chester is redefining itself," said James Wahba, "and we saw that as, flat-out, we should do something about this."

The Wahbas, whose family business, Champion Holding Co., owns the parcel at 88 S. Water St., filed the plan in Town Hall early last week. Among approvals it must obtain is a special permit to allow residential instead of industrial use of the site.

Whether the plan will win approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission is to be determined. The commission, facing a backlog of applications, will likely not review the plan until the summer.

The property is zoned for water-related use, a zoning designation which Byram residents have said should be changed to allow for the development of a mix of residential and retail use along the waterfront.

That is one of several issues which have come to the fore as the Byram master plan is being created by a group of residents and town officials. Byram residents also say the area lacks sufficient parking and is choked with traffic.

As for the condominium proposal, Eric Brower, a local land-use consultant, said that, while the project would not conform to current zoning, it would replace the site's existing nonconforming use as the location of oil storage tanks. The commission allows such replacement of uses if it proves less detrimental to the neighborhood.

The Wahbas' argument -- and that of some local residents and business owners -- is that the condominium project may be the tonic for an area seeking to revitalize itself.

"This should be a shot in the arm for Byram," said William Ferenc, who is 80 and lives across the street from the proposed project.

Ferenc, a justice of the peace, has lived in Byram his entire life, except the four years he spent in World War II. The license plate on his car reads VETERAN. Standing on his front porch, shirtless in record-breaking April heat, Ferenc looked at the Wahbas' vacant lot, and then out over the river at heavy machinery busting into concrete near the Costco.

"I'm 100 percent for it," he said.

James and John Wahba grew up on Byram Shore Road. James went to Brunswick School and John went to Greenwich High School. They both run various operations of Champion Holding Co., which was founded by their father, Mahmoud Wahba, who still lives in Greenwich. They have started an Internet company and oversee a packaging company in Virginia. This spring, they are both graduating from Skidmore College.

Their condominium idea came from people who live and work in Byram, they said -- particularly people like Fafa Farzam, the owner of The Corner Deli and Grocery on Mill Street, who told Greenwich Time in a February article that stores such as hers need more families living in walking distance to the village commercial district.

"I think the neighborhood wants to see this be a more residential area," James Wahba said. "We're hoping this starts a trend."

The brothers say they are targeting young couples, perhaps those who work in New York City. Thirty-one of the 47 proposed units would have two bedrooms; the others would have a single bedroom. Each would have a fireplace, a washing machine and a dryer. John Wahba said the architecture will be "Victorian New England in feel."

They said they are confident every unit could be sold before the complex is built.

People working on the Byram master plan have said they want to create a pedestrian-friendly zone in a community that already has stores, a library, churches, a school and a park. The plan, according to those working on it, is progressing slowly.

Edith Bonizio, who has lived on Norias Road in Byram for 10 years, said she did not know much about the proposed project, but she believes it should be considered within the context of the master plan.

"Byram needs to be revitalized," said Bonizio, who is the chairwoman of the Friends of the Byram Shubert Library. "It needs young blood."

The project would be a tenth of a mile south of the intersection of South Water and Mill streets, one of the busier intersections in Byram. Two siblings from Yonkers, N.Y., opened a restaurant on the southwest corner of that intersection in December, after renovating the entire building for nine months.

Joe Pasqualoni and Teresa DeMeglio, co-owners of the Riverhouse Restaurant, said they sense from their short time in Byram that it is on the upswing. And they would not have invested in a new business if they did not feel the area had potential. An upscale condo development a short walk along the water from their restaurant would only be good for them and for the village, they said.

"Anything that builds up the waterfront will be great," DeMeglio said.

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