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Capuchin Friary bought for open space By BARBARA LIVINGSTON
NACKMAN PHILIPSTOWN — Residents, town officials and members of the Capuchin Friary are applauding the sale of a prime 93-acre property along the Hudson River to a land preservation group for $7.4 million. The Open Space Institute announced the sale yesterday. It completed the purchase after months of discussion with the Capuchins of the Franciscan Friary, who own the land and sparked intense controversy when they sought to sell it to a developer interested in building a massive luxury retirement complex. "We didn't like to be the cause of disputes with anyone," Kevin Ward, a spokesman for the Capuchins, said yesterday. "It has been very difficult." The Pointe Lookout project from White Plains developer Schwartzberg Associates called for 425 townhouses for senior citizens with a hotel and spa on the property, which features breathtaking views of the Hudson. Its size and a proposed on-site sewage treatment plant served as a catalyst for Garrison residents who wanted to manage growth in their neighborhood. "I'm delighted. It would have been a mistake to overdevelop the property," said Alan Kiepper, a 10-year Garrison resident and member of the Garrison Village Association, which tried to turn the hamlet into a village so Garrison residents could exert more local control. "This is a unique part of the river, the Hudson Valley and our town," Councilman Anthony Merante said. "It's definitely a good thing. (The developer) couldn't come across with a plan (in keeping with) the nature of the town." The Catholic order, which acquired the property in the early 1920s from Wall Street broker Hamilton Fish, has struggled financially with the upkeep of the land and its aging buildings. The sale allows the friars to lease their current space for their youth ministry for 18 months. The order will then move into a renovated building on an adjoining parcel on Route 9D to continue its youth and family ministries. The parcel purchased by the Open Space Institute, known as Glenclyffe, includes Mary Immaculate Friary, a grand 1928 limestone building that is expected to remain intact. The friars had entered into a contract five years ago to sell the land opposite West Point Military Academy to Schwartzberg Associates. But after slicing the project in half to 190 units with a hotel and trying three times to win local approval, the developer failed to act on its option to purchase the land. During the spring, the friars received variances to rebuild St. Francis Friary on an adjoining 19 acres. A $4 million renovation of the 25,000-square-foot building has begun and is expected to consolidate the Capuchins' operation. Susan Bates, executive director of Hudson Highlands Land Trust, who is working with the town on planning issues, also praised the sale. "What OSI has done is a wonderful thing to make sure that the property will be developed in a manner and scale appropriate to the character of the community," she said. The sale is one of OSI's single largest purchases, President Joe Martens said. "This is a very prominent property and is central in the region," he said. At the north end, it adjoins Arden Point State Park, which OSI bought years ago and later transferred to the state. Martens said OSI expects to work with town officials on future uses for the site, but he was not sure if ownership would be transferred to another agency. Planner and developer Jonathan Rose will manage Glenclyffe for OSI. He intends to purchase 12 acres of the Glenclyffe property — including the Mary Immaculate Friary — for use as the headquarters of the Garrison Institute, a foundation he and his wife formed. The foundation's mission, he said, is to study religious traditions and current social and environmental issues. "The building itself is so perfectly suited for a small, spiritually based institution," said Rose, whose parents funded the Rose Reading Room at the New York Public Library and the planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Rose, also a planning consultant for the town, said the intentions of the Garrison Institute and OSI fit in with community concerns and local needs. Ward, the spokesman for the friars, said the land sale to OSI is good from a monetary, emotional and spiritual standpoint. Many friars in the order were taught and grew up on the property, which has been in the order for 60 years. "We're glad it worked out," he said, "and we are still a neighbor." |
