BY CAROLINE CAREY
EDITORIAL@THEHUDSONVALLEYNEWS.COM
A number of weeks ago Hudson Valley News began receiving inquiries from the public about what was going on across the street from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park. A developer, T-Rex Capital, has owned the property for several years. The prior owner, developer Baker-Gagne, had planned to develop the St. Andrews property with large residential and retail complexes, but it eventually fell victim to the bursting of the real estate bubble and financial collapse of 2007-8.
The fact that the current tree cutting is widespread, over 40 acres, and easily seen from Route 9 has attracted a lot of attention. When asked a while ago what was going on, Supervisor Aileen Rohr posted on Facebook that the property owner was simply exercising their right to recover some costs by harvesting lumber from the site. Rohr said there was no development on the table and dismissed the issue. But in an exclusive interview with Hudson Valley News, T-Rexs CEO Tom Mulroy said he is starting the site plan approval process for Bellefield Hyde Park, as the project is known, and with great enthusiasm detailed his plans for the property.
I see this as my legacy, Mulroy began. Something my kids will always be able to see that I did. I have never spent more personal time on project than I have here. Mulroys plans for Bellefield Hyde Park include an eco-friendly development with a hospitality focus, shops and housing. This is not going to be a Disneyland-like development. We are only plan to build on about 90 of the 340 acres, Mulroy continued.
Bellefield Hyde Park will be a 340-acre mixed-used development with a 45-acre working farm as its inspiration. There will be 559 residences, including brownstone style homes, detached cottages, artist-style lofts, and private acreage estates. Construction materials will be eco-conscious, and heating and cooling systems will utilize geothermal and solar energy. The first phase of the project will be hospitality-focused with one or two hotels, a spa and conference center and some specialty retail shops and artist-style lofts, according to Mulroy. He expects that phase to cost around $100 million. It will feature a boutique hotel, with a relationship with a larger hotel company for logistics, that will meet the desperate need for a quality hotel and conference center in the area.
Mulroy continued, I have spent the last two years speaking to local stakeholders at the CIA, Marist, Federal Parks and local business owners about what is needed in the area. They are frustrated by all the events that are lost to them because there is nowhere close for tourists, wedding guests or food summit attendees to stay. He continued that over one million people drive by the property every year but most have to leave the area at the end of the day.
The development will also have a market square featuring signature restaurants, specialty food and wine shops, a year-round farmers market, a performing arts center and amphitheater and more. Keeping with the healthy, eco-conscious, farm-to-table lifestyle of the development, there will be an extensive network of ten miles of walking, hiking and biking trails with wetlands and natural preserves promoting sustainable living.
Mulroy told us that he wants Bellefield Hyde Park to be like the eco-friendly Serenbe Farms, Georgia, which is a 1,000 acre development that has a large farm, homes and specialty restaurants and shops.
There are discussions underway with hotel and spa companies that would be strategic partners. Mulroy said they will begin discussions with financial partners when site plan approval is close. He said they plan to use a lot of the analysis and SEQRA data that was prepared for St. Andrews and would update it as need be. Next steps include filing for site plan approval with the planning board.
Mulroy concluded, If we build this, they will come.