For residents surrounding Camp LaGuardia who wonder what will become of the 260-acre parcel that once housed more than 1,000 homeless men from New York City, one question has been answered: The project is “still a go,” town of Chester Supervisor Steve Neuhaus said.
“But it is a long process,” he said, whose municipality is one of the three involved with the revitalization of the property, which is populated by several buildings in various stages of disrepair. In addition to resolving water issues with the county, “Mountco also had to deal with some environmental concerns on the property”™s wetlands, which have been addressed. They”™ll be back in front of the town in a few months. Progress is being made, but this overhaul is not going to happen overnight. It”™s a huge undertaking.”
Mountco bought Camp LaGuardia in 2007 for $9.5 million, impressing the majority of the Orange County Legislature with its plans to reinvent the homeless shelter property into a “walkable community” ”“ even allowing for space for Mount St. Mary College in Newburgh to open a satellite campus, which made $300 million in renovations of the Chester-Blooming Grove property even more attractive.
Mountco, based in Scarsdale, met with the town of Blooming Grove and town of Chester officials and the public in November 2009, to answer questions and bring renderings of what it plans to do with the proposed site. Since then, all”™s been quiet.
Mountco has not yet finalized its sales agreement with the county, which bought the homeless shelter in 2007 and closed it. The deal is contingent on Mountco getting the necessary approvals and permits to go ahead with the work proposed at the full-fenced site ”“ a fence the county insisted the city construct to keep wandering homeless residents out of residential neighborhoods. Spokesperson for Orange County, Orysia Dmytrenko, said the county”™s closing with Mountco is “on hold due to pending water issues.”
Joel Mounty was not available for comment on the project at press time.
