After several months of delay, New Castle town officials this fall have begun their environmental review of a New Jersey developer”™s third proposal to redevelop a nearly 100-acre estate built by a Broadway showman and last used as a spiritual retreat center by a Roman Catholic religious order.
Stephen Oder, principal of Soder Real Estate Equities in Montclair, N.J., has a purchase agreement on the 773 Armonk Road property with the Legionaries of Christ, an order of priests that paid $3.13 million in 1994 to acquire the secluded estate from the Unification Church of the late Sun Myung Moon.
A 1920s-era red brick mansion on the property, built for songwriter and theatrical producer Billy Rose, would be the centerpiece of a mixed-use development that includes a 30-room hotel, 54 two-bedroom condominiums and a fitness center. Plans also include a public spa and 4,470-square-foot restaurant on the site.
Oder is seeking a town zoning change to create a floating zone that would allow a resort lifestyle complex on the site, which is now zoned for two-acre single-family housing lots.
Oder last year first proposed a 66-unit residential development and 30-room hotel on the site. He later returned to town officials with a proposal to build 80 villas and townhouse condos on the site without a hotel.
Oder presented his latest plan to the New Castle Planning Board in September after introducing it to the Town Board early this year. He said he hasn”™t heard major complaints from the public about the project because the proposal is still in the early stages of review.
“It”™s too early in the process to know what the prognosis is and whether there”™s support for this,” Oder said. “We haven”™t had a formal public hearing to know. There”™s a neighborhood that sits behind the property and I”™m sure they”™ll want to weigh in.”
The developer wants to replace mansion wings that were added in the 1950s with new wings to house 2,500-square-foot condo units. The hotel, which would include two or three meeting spaces capable of seating 50 persons, would be a new structure on the south side of the mansion.
The Spa at New Castle, as Oder calls the development, would be a “high-end facility” that provides a boutique hotel and spa service, he said. He wants to gear his business to empty nesters and hotel guests making use of the full-service spa.
“We think it”™s a natural place to have a spa,” Oder said. “It”™s very quiet and no traffic or cars interrupt the site line. The hotel and spa service is lacking in Westchester County. There”™s a strong need for it, and we believe this is the right location for it.”
The project”™s estimated cost is $50 million, though Oder said they “haven”™t priced anything out at this stage.”
The development could create from 75 to 100 permanent jobs and generate more than $1 million in tax revenue, he said.
“It”™s slower than we expected,” Oder said of the town review process. “We want to move this forward as fast as possible, but right now we”™re just at a holding stage.”
