Thursday, June 22, 2006
Kiryas Joel eyes Lew Beach land
Kiryas Joel leaders could collaborate on the development of 520 acres in this picturesque pocket of the Catskill Mountains where Irving Berlin once spent his summers and the rich inhabit grand vacation estates.
Representatives of the growing Hasidic community 65 miles southeast of Lew Beach have been discussing development of the property with Robert Lawrence Jr., a Realtor who works in Goshen and whose family has owned the huge Sullivan County tract in the Town of Rockland for generations.
Lawrence, an outspoken defender of Kiryas Joel in its recent growth-related battles with neighboring towns and Orange County lawmakers, describes the project as an effort to build a new Hasidic community far from the lacerating disputes in southern Orange County.
"I owned it, and I struck a deal to develop it with them as a Jewish village," Lawrence said of his family's land yesterday. "It's just going to be an extension of Kiryas Joel at this point."
But there were also indications yesterday that the notion of a full-fledged community cropping up in the midst of trout-fishing country is overblown, or at least highly premature.
Kiryas Joel leaders, who asked to remain anonymous because they insist plans are undefined, suggested the property might be developed with second homes for Orthodox empty-nesters - similar to those proliferating in other parts of Sullivan County - and Orthodox summer camps.
But a Lew Beach sequel to Kiryas Joel is not in the cards at this point, village leaders said.
Lawrence's hilly, forested property is on the market for $14 million. It sits within just a few miles of some of the world's most famous trout streams. Lew Beach itself consists of a Rockefeller-owned general store, one office building, a firehouse and a handful of Victorian-style farm houses. The Rockefeller family owns tracts of land around Lew Beach.
The development proposal has generated mixed signals from the outset. One concerns the involvement of Kiryas Joel's municipal government, as opposed to its private developers and financiers - always a blurry line in the insular community.
http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2006/06/22/news-camvwrockland-06-22.html
Kiryas Joel leaders could collaborate on the development of 520 acres in this picturesque pocket of the Catskill Mountains where Irving Berlin once spent his summers and the rich inhabit grand vacation estates.
Representatives of the growing Hasidic community 65 miles southeast of Lew Beach have been discussing development of the property with Robert Lawrence Jr., a Realtor who works in Goshen and whose family has owned the huge Sullivan County tract in the Town of Rockland for generations.
Lawrence, an outspoken defender of Kiryas Joel in its recent growth-related battles with neighboring towns and Orange County lawmakers, describes the project as an effort to build a new Hasidic community far from the lacerating disputes in southern Orange County.
"I owned it, and I struck a deal to develop it with them as a Jewish village," Lawrence said of his family's land yesterday. "It's just going to be an extension of Kiryas Joel at this point."
But there were also indications yesterday that the notion of a full-fledged community cropping up in the midst of trout-fishing country is overblown, or at least highly premature.
Kiryas Joel leaders, who asked to remain anonymous because they insist plans are undefined, suggested the property might be developed with second homes for Orthodox empty-nesters - similar to those proliferating in other parts of Sullivan County - and Orthodox summer camps.
But a Lew Beach sequel to Kiryas Joel is not in the cards at this point, village leaders said.
Lawrence's hilly, forested property is on the market for $14 million. It sits within just a few miles of some of the world's most famous trout streams. Lew Beach itself consists of a Rockefeller-owned general store, one office building, a firehouse and a handful of Victorian-style farm houses. The Rockefeller family owns tracts of land around Lew Beach.
The development proposal has generated mixed signals from the outset. One concerns the involvement of Kiryas Joel's municipal government, as opposed to its private developers and financiers - always a blurry line in the insular community.
http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2006/06/22/news-camvwrockland-06-22.html
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