Four of Westchester”™s power players are joining forces to reshape and revitalize a vacant but promising building along Peekskill”™s waterfront.
Diamond Properties co-owner William Diamond, Captain Lawrence Brewery founder Scott Vaccaro, Peekskill and New York City restaurateur Louis Lanza and Peekskill restaurant and gastropub owner John Sharp said Tuesday they plan to create a $6.5 million multi-purpose, family-friendly attraction on the former site of The Cove restaurant at the Charles Point Marina.
The four met on the building”™s second-floor patio recently to discuss and finalize plans that would include a full-service seafood restaurant and catering company, a Captain Lawrence satellite brewery and on-site entertainment and recreation activities.
Diamond acquired the waterfront lease at 5 John Walsh Blvd. last fall and quickly collaborated with his business partners to complete plans for what they hope will be a family-friendly hub in northern Westchester.
- From left, Captain Lawrence Brewing Co. founder Scott Vaccaro, Peekskill restaurateurs John Sharp and Louis Lanza and Diamond Properties co-owner William Diamond. Photo by Evan Fallor
Diamond said he now controls three buildings on the 11-acre property; a 45,000-square-foot space to be developed as the restaurant, brewery and entertainment complex; a 17,000-square-foot manufacturing building at the rear of the property; and a 3,200-square-foot building. The manufacturing building will not utilized in development, but Diamond said there is a possibility the smaller building may be expanded to hold a potential distillery. He hopes to have the property operational by next summer.
“Our goal is that the marina will become a major destination for weddings, social and corporate events, birthday parties, Bar Mitzvahas and, of course, families and groups of friends just looking to drink terrific beer on the waterfront during a sunny day in the spring or summer,” Diamond said. “We”™re creating a family-friendly destination for the surrounding towns that will hopefully become an institution.”
Diamond Properties, based in Mount Kisco, currently operates Grand Prix New York, a go kart racing and bowling entertainment facility also in Mount Kisco. Diamond said it is yet to be determined whether a Grand Prix racing area will be included on the site, but said he hopes to include laser tag, an arcade, an outdoor ropes course and a bocce area.
Vaccaro said he plans to open a boutique brewery that will offer new beers not brewed at the company”™s headquarters in Elmsford. He hopes it will become a summer destination for beer enthusiasts, and plans on offering 10 to 12 beers on tap.
“We look at this as an opportunity to expand our presence in the county,” Vaccaro said. “We want to make different beers and focus primarily on lagers.”
According to land records, Diamond Properties acquired the lease for the property, also the former site of the Fleischmann Distilling Corp. in the 19th century, from the Peekskill Industrial Development Agency for $900,000. His company has already completed a $180,000 renovation of the marina and has gutted a room on the building”™s second floor.
As the former site of The Cove restaurant, the second floor still has tables, chairs, a bar area stocked with liquor and signs in the window of its previous occupancy. Sharp, who co-owns both Gleason”™s ”” a bar on South Street ”” and Birdsall House, a craft beer gastropub on Main Street, will handle much of the restaurant and bar scene with Lanza, who plans to open a seafood-themed restaurant with a raw bar. Catering options are also in the works.
Lanza, who owns the Hudson Room on South Division Street, Taco Dive Bar and Eagle Saloon in Peekskill as well as several restaurants in New York City, said that this project would not take business from the city”™s downtown restaurant and retail area currently being revitalized. Rather, he said, it would complement the existing eatery scene.
“This is essentially the third asset for downtown,” Lanza said. “This is the final piece in Peekskill.”
Diamond Properties will meet with the Peekskill Planning Commission in October, and Diamond said he hopes to receive final approval before Thanksgiving.
He hopes adults will come to Charles Point Marina for food and beverages, and families will come for the activities geared to a younger crowd. With the four levels of expertise, he sees the vision soon becoming a reality.
“We saw tremendous opportunity with the location,” Diamond said. “Together we feel that we will be able to successfully execute on a multi-faceted project.”
