A New Jersey developer recently unveiled a plan to build a condominium, hotel and spa complex at the 97-acre Legionaries of Christ site in New Castle, but a town official cautioned the plan is still “very much preliminary.”
Stephen Oder, principal of Montclair, N.J.-based Soder Real Estate Equities L.L.C., presented a conceptual plan for the renovation of the property”™s sprawling 45,615-square-foot manor home to accommodate more than 60 condos, a 30-room hotel and a 20,000-square-foot spa.
The plans were detailed at a Sept. 4 joint meeting of the New Castle Town Board and Planning Board, said New Castle Planning Commissioner Sabrina Charney Hull, noting that the proposal is in the very early stages.
“We had a potential developer come in and present a plan that showed a roughly 64-unit condominium complex and a 30-bed hotel, and spa,” Hull said. “It”™s still very much in concept form.”
Oder could not be reached for comment.
The property, located at 773 Armonk Road near the border between the towns of New Castle and North Castle, was placed on the market in October 2011 by Legion of Christ Inc., making it the second major Westchester County property to be put up for sale by the conservative Roman Catholic order since the beginning of 2011.
Legionaries of Christ previously planned to construct a university at its 264-acre site in Thornwood, which it bought from IBM Corp. in 1996 for $33.5 million, and to construct a seminary at its New Castle site, which it bought for $3.12 million from the Unification Church in 1994.
Both plans fizzled, however, with observers attributing the order”™s efforts to sell both of its Westchester campuses to economic struggles resulting from a widely documented sexual abuse scandal surrounding Legionaries founder Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado, who died in 2008.
The site is zoned for single-family residences on two-acre lots, public schools, and municipal use by the town of New Castle, with alternative uses requiring additional town approvals.
Hull said that in order for a lead agency to be determined and for the town to determine whether any permits or approvals would be necessary, should Soder Real Estate purchase the property, the developer would need to submit additional information to the town.
“We”™re still very much preliminary,” Hull said. “The next step is for the developer to submit information to us so we could make a zoning determination on the project.”
