Doral Arrowwood redevelopment moves into environmental review stage

The proposal to redevelop the site of the shuttered Doral Arrowwood resort at 975 Anderson Hill Road in the Village of Rye Brook has moved into the environmental review stage. The village’s Board of Trustees has adopted a Scoping Outline for the preparation of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). Doral Arrowwood has been vacant since 2019.

The developer, Cohen Purchase Building Company LLC will be required to follow the outline in conducting studies and preparing a document that evaluates environmental aspects of the project and proposes steps to mitigate any adverse environmental impacts.

The Scoping Outline calls for studies of soils, topography, geology, wetlands, vegetation and wildlife. Visual resources, community character, schools, open space, traffic, infrastructure, energy use and utilities also are among the numerous subjects to be covered in the DEIS.

The site is within a Planned Unit Development (PUD) District, Airport Zoning Districts and the village’s Anderson Hill Road Scenic Road Overlay District. The developer petitioned the village’s Board of Trustees to amend the Zoning Code to establish a new PUD known as the “975 Anderson Hill Road Planned Unit Development.”

The project site consists of approximately 84 acres of the former PUD that was approved for Doral Arrowwood and Doral Greens. The site also includes former golf course holes. The existing Doral Greens residences are to remain and the golf course holes are to be refurbished. The project site does not include the approximately 6.89-acres of land owned by the applicant in Connecticut.

The proposal includes the construction of a health and wellness lodge with approximately 220 hotel rooms for guests and 40 residential units, along with a grand ballroom and conference center for banquets and events. There would be spa and fitness facilities, restaurants, pools, pavilions, tennis and pickleball courts and other recreational amenities. The lodge would have seven levels and two garden levels. A separate five-story residential building would have approximately 75 units, including 12 affordable housing units, as well as amenity rooms, lounges, and fitness facilities including an outdoor pool for residents. There would be underground parking.

There also would be a medical/wellness office building that also has approximately six workforce housing units.

Additional at-grade surface parking areas would be built. The existing access drive from Anderson Hill Road would be reconfigured and another access drive from Anderson Hill Road would be added.

In the petition seeking a zoning change, Attorneys David Steinmetz and Brad Schwartz of the White Plains-based law firm Zarin & Steinmetz said, “The project is designed to attract visitors to the village from around the region to enjoy the project’s expert wellness, dining, hospitality, and recreational activities. This will be both a tourist destination and an opportunity to offer a unique housing type in the village that differs from a traditional single-family home.”

They pointed out that the new facility would be a community amenity that could host weddings, charity banquets, fundraisers, and similar events. They also noted that when Doral Arrowwood was operating it generated hundreds of thousands of tax dollars for the village and the proposed development would “once again generate tax revenues in a meaningful way for the village.”