Backed by 1,000 signatures on a community petition, owners of Brynwood Golf & Country Club are back for a second round with North Castle town officials in their bid to develop luxury condominiums on their roughly 160-acre property on Route 22.
Thirteen months after withdrawing plans for a 243-unit project opposed by some of the golf club”™s Armonk neighbors, Brynwood partners will present a redesigned project of 98 higher-priced residences. Brynwood principal and Armonk resident Jeffrey B. Mendell said they expect the town review process to take about one year. The developers are seeking new town zoning for a golf course community.
Last year, “We got caught up in the election season, which is what I call ”˜silly season,”™” said Mendell. “We sort of became political fodder.”
“We”™ve spent the last 15 to 16 months meeting not only with the town board but the entire community,” including about 20 community groups and Byram Hills School District officials, “in order to get the facts out,” said Mendell. “People were dealing with misinformation, innuendos, rumor and did not have the facts.”
Mendell said traffic on Route 22 was “a legitimate concern” among residents, whose opposition to the project last year was led by the property”™s Windmill Farm neighbors across Route 22. But Brynwood”™s anticipated clientele ”“ self-employed entrepreneurs and the empty nester market of retired and semiretired area homeowners ”“ should not contribute to the heavy rush hour traffic, he said.
The scaled-down plans also include a redesigned clubhouse and a banquet facility reduced from a 400-person capacity to 250. On-site guest accommodations and overall parking also have been reduced and a proposed parking structure has been eliminated.
Mendell said the mix of two-bedroom condos, three-bedroom “golf villas” and four-bedroom “golf cottages” will be priced at $1.2 million to $1.8 million, up from $750,000 to $1.2 million for the 243-unit development proposed last year.
In 2009, when he and two partners paid $6.3 million to acquire the aging Canyon Club from Mitsubishi Inc. and began planning its redevelopment, “We were at the edge of a financial meltdown,” Mendell said. As the economy recovers, “We can go with a little more of a luxury buyer. We”™re fortunate that in this area, we can afford a luxury product.”
Brynwood partners estimated the development could generate $1.82 million in property tax revenue for the town and Byram Hills School District and about $1.6 million in one-time building and recreation fees for North Castle. It is expected to create about 300 construction jobs and more than 75 new permanent jobs.
This time around, “It”™s all or nothing,” said Mendell. “If we don”™t get the residential, we do nothing.”
The property is zoned for two-acre housing lots and Mendell noted the partners could close the 350-member club and golf course and replace them with a 49-home subdivision. That would add to rush-hour traffic congestion on Route 22 and to student numbers at Byram Hills.
“When you”™re looking at a choice, it”™s a no-brainer,” said Mendell. “Everybody is a winner in this project.”
That would include Mendell, who plans to live in the Brynwood community. “I”™m looking forward to selling my house,” he said.
