A Scarsdale real estate developer has sued Chappaqua Central School District to enforce a contract to sell 20.4 acres of forested land that a nonprofit group claims is near a sacred Native American site.
CG Homes Six LLC sued the school district for $2.77 million in a complaint filed Nov. 10 in Westchester Supreme Court.
The district had agreed to obtain land use approvals for the site, according to the complaint, and then used “its own failures and the lack of such approvals as a pretext to escape its … contractual obligations.”
School Supt. Christine Ackerman and five school board members did not respond to emails asking for their side of the story.
The development site is in a forested area at the end of Buttonhook Road at Garey Drive. The district bought the land for $125,000 in 1973 for a school, and then abandoned the plans and put the property up for sale in 2010.
CG Homes is run by Eric Scheffler, the founder of Invictus Real Estate Partners private equity firm and a real estate lawyer and banker by trade according to his company profile.
The district agreed to sell the land to CG Homes for $2 million in August 2021, the complaint states, and obtain land use approvals for six homes from the Town of New Castle planning board. The developer made a $100,000 down payment.
On June 24 the district notified CG Homes that it was seeking new bids and “would like to return the money held in escrow on the expired agreement.”
The developer rejected the contract cancellation and offered to help the district bear the costs of seeking land use approvals, up to $50,000 that would be credited back to CG Homes at the closing,
On July 6 the school board declared that the deposit should be returned, according to the complaint, and “wrongfully asserted” that the board had exercised due diligence and met its contractual obligations.
The district allegedly re-advertised the property for sale on June 30 and sent the developer a check for the down payment on July 14.
CG Homes says it rejected the check on July 24 and demanded that the district “pursue final subdivision and site plan approval diligently and in good faith.”
At least one organization has bid for the property. Friends of Buttonhook Forest Inc., also known as Preserve Buttonhook, has offered $1.25 million for the land.
The nonprofit organization says rare Native American sacred stone landscapes have been found on two properties adjacent to the development site and are likely to be found on the development site.
The group wants to protect the land as is and use it as a place to educate the public about Native American history.
CG Homes, represented by Manhattan attorney David W. Tyler, accuses the school district of breach of contract. It is asking the court to direct the district to perform its obligations, ban the district from marketing or selling the property to anyone else, and order the district to pay $2.77 million in damages.
