Politics & Government

Legionaries Overhaul Altered; Fewer Condos, More Hotel Rooms

Developer Stephen Oder submits a revised plan for The Spa at New Castle, which includes 50 condos and 34 hotel rooms.

The developer seeking to transform the Legionaries of Christ site in eastern New Castle has tweaked his plan.

Stephen Oder, of Soder Real Estate Equities, LLC, submitted a revised iteration to the town, dated March 15. The new version includes 50 condo units (down from 54) and 34 hotel rooms (up from 30).

Oder's proposal is called The Spa at New Castle, and is a mixed-use plan for the 96.4-acre site, which is located at 773 Armonk Road (Route 128) and is in the Bedford school district. Aside from the lodging, it includes room for a pool, spa and athletic courts.

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The Spa involves redeveloping the 1920s-era mansion on the site, including a tear down and replacement of its 1950s-era east and west wings. Under the proposal, new wings will be constructed; 21 condos will be in the west wing, with 29 in the east. In addition, a new, 30,000-square-foot structure to the south will be constructed for 30 of the hotel units and be three stories tall. The the other four hotel rooms will be in the mansion, which in turn will host amenities including the spa.

The latest revision of the plan includes several dimensional changes, such as a decrease of the west wing's dimension by 20 feet so that it's not located in a western front-yard setback, increasing the length of both wings facing north by 19 feet and enlarging the east wing's footprint. 

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The west wing will be about 65,380 square feet, with the east wing at about 81,010. Both wings will be three stories tall.

The condo units will each have two bedrooms and be about 2,500 square feet. The hotel rooms will range in size from 650 to 750 square feet. Other elements planned for the site include 200 parking spots, a gym, movie theater, juice bar, basketball and tennis courts, and hiking trails. 

The new submission is the fourth iteration of the site's overhaul from Oder. The first version, presented to the New Castle Town Board in September, called for 66 condos, 30 hotel rooms, the spa and four new side buildings for the housing. A second version, which in hindsight was a brief detour, was disclosed to the town the following month and was an all-residential version of 80 units and eight, 3-story buildings. The third version, presented to the board in January and formally submitted in a February petition, reduced development coverage by packing the housing into the replacement wings and restored the mix-use arrangement, with 54 condos and 30 hotel rooms.

Oder has an agreement to buy the property from the Legionaries of Christ, which put it up for sale in 2011, if he gets town approval.

David Steinmetz, the developer's attorney, told Patch that decision, in terms of process to submit the changes through another petition filing, was in response to town feedback.

The proposal requires a zoning change in order for it to become a reality. The site is currently zoned R-2A, or two-acre, single-family home usage. Oder proposes creating a new floating zone to allow a "Resort Lifestyle Complex," which would allow the mixed-used concept and apply to sites of 75 acres or more.  

The applicant also states that the proposal will be consistent with the town's master plan, which was last updated in 1989 and will soon get another update, because it allows for multifamily housing as an alternative. The developer also suggests that the ongoing master plan update could take his plan's concept into account.

Other new materials include a viewshed study to assess the proposal's relationship with a series of viewpoints near by, in New Castle and as far away as Bedford. A septic test study also states that there is enough capacity on site for handling wastewater.

In a letter co-signed by Steinmetz, the next step requested is for the proposal to be put on a town board agenda and for the review process to start.

To read the new application, click here for the link on the town's website.


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