Packed house hears Hitchcock estate golf course pre-application

"This is nothing like Silo Ridge," said Centaur Properties co-founder Henry Hay. "This is Buckingham Palace to a craphouse. It's completely different. It's much higher quality."

MILLBROOK — Dozens of residents of the Town of Washington packed into the courtroom in Town Hall on Reservoir Drive for a standing-room-only regular meeting of the Planning Board on Tuesday, Oct. 7.

Well over three-quarters of the crowd were there to listen in to a pre-application meeting between Planning Board members and representatives of Centaur Properties LLC, a New York City-based development company that’s proposing an 18-hole golf course, equestrian facilities and luxury residential development on the 2,000-acre Hitchcock estate.

A pre-application meeting, Planning Board Chair Susan Meaney explained before beginning the discussion, allows developers or anyone with a potential project to meet with the Planning Board and ask questions about the planning and zoning process prior to submitting an application.

“This is not a public hearing,” Meaney said. “That doesn’t mean that you can’t let your voices be heard. If you have opinions about what gets said here tonight or what the potential proposal might be you can certainly write letters to the Planning Board.”

Henry Hay and David Blatt are the men behind Centaur Properties’ proposal for the Hitchcock estate. Blatt began the discussion by expressing his and Hay’s desire to have an open dialogue with the community.

“It goes without saying this is an incredible piece of property — an incredibly large piece of property,” Blatt said. “It deserves a responsible and thoughtful steward and our hope is that we can bring that level of stewardship that the property deserves and the level of attention to detail and care that this property needs.”

Following was a description of the project centered around an 18-hole golf course that Blatt and Hay said was essential to the development.

“Our ideas on our project are to create a world class golf course, clubhouse — limited membership,” Blatt said.

Additionally, the developers expressed a desire to construct a spa, equestrian facilities, trails, housing and to conserve a portion of the estate.

Planning Board members then began a back-and-forth with the developers, asking the two men for more specific details about their proposal. One of Meaney’s first questions centered around private membership.

“We’re going to have a very, very small membership,” Hay said. “Maybe 300 people.”

That response prompted board member Nicole Drury to clarify if the proposal is more akin to a private golf club or a gated luxury housing development of the likes of the Discovery Land Company’s Silo Ridge Field Club in Amenia — a gated luxury subdivision in Amenia with an 18-hole golf course and other amenities.

“This is nothing like Silo Ridge,” Hay said in response. “This is Buckingham Palace to a craphouse. It’s completely different. It’s much higher quality.”

Later on in the meeting, Planning Board member Eric Alexander again drew comparisons between Centaur’s proposal and the nearby Silo Ridge Field Club in Amenia, which he called a “bad situation for that community.” He cited a perception of exclusivity within the luxury housing development that has put off the surrounding Amenia community.

But Hay wouldn’t elaborate on the distinctions between the Hitchcock estate proposal and Silo Ridge Field Club. "This is nothing like Silo Ridge," Hay maintained. "We don't want that."

Environmental conservation was central to the board members’ concerns, prompting conflicting responses from Blatt and Hay about the amount of open space that will be left after development.

“At least 50%,” Hay said before Blatt cut him off.

“I think 25 to 50% is kind of a good estimate,” Blatt said, correcting his colleague. “We would love to put aside as much as possible.”

The pre-application meeting ended shortly after input from the Planning Board’s attorney, Hannah Atkinson of Van DeWater & Van DeWater out of Poughkeepsie, and Meaney that not much more could be said about the proposal until something concrete has been submitted to the board.

“There’s a code so you can be working within the framework of what’s expected in these different zones,” Atkinson said of the town’s zoning code, and urged the developers to read the code and use it and the town’s comprehensive plan to guide them in designing the project. “You’re not going to be 180 degrees off what the board is expecting if you follow the provisions of the code.”

As of press time, the sale of the Hitchcock estate has not been finalized. The property was listed for sale in Summer 2024 for $75 million.