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Harlem Valley Center Sold: Senior Housing Part of The Plan
06.06.1999
by Rob Seetoo
Poughkeepsie Journal
Purchase includes 885 acres.
Highlights of deal
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The state will sell 885 acres of land at the Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center to TP Enterprises, LLC.
State officials say the land will garner New York $3.95 million.
The project envisioned would result in more than $80 million in private-sector investment an the creation of more than 500 jobs.
Development options include housing, perhaps for senior citizens, retail space, office space and light industrial facilities.
About 90 acres of land will be deeded to the state Department of Environmental Conservation for the Appalachian Trail.
Proceeds from the sale will support mental health services.
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Project may draw 500 jobs
Wingdale - After more than five years, there a deal to sell the Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center.
The state has entered into a contract to sell the Town of Dover campus for 3.95 million to Queens-based developers, Gov. Pataki announced Tuesday.
"Rather than allow surplus properties to languish in the hands of government, we are putting them back to the people of New York," Pataki said in a press release.
The news was welcomed in Wingdale and the Harlem Valley, where residents have been struggling for years to overcome the jobs lost when the center closed in 1994.
Dover Supervisor Jill Way said the jobs and tax revenue created by the project would be a great boom to the economy.
"We want the jobs and taxes," she said.
The state projects the impact at 500 jobs and $80 million in revenue.
Brewster-based real estate agent Edward Heelan, who brokered the deal for TP Enterprises LLC, was elated the sale was finally complete. "It represents the culmination of years of effort, and it's the beginning of an exciting new effort," said Heelan.
Several uses proposed
Specifics of the proposed redevelopment project are still being formed, but they likely will include a mix of uses - senior citizens housing, commercial, and office space and some light industry. The center sits on nearly 900 acres, has its own power plant and golf course and has more than 80 buildings, although many are in disrepair.
The deal with TP Enterprises is for 885 acres; the remaining 80 acres will be deeded to the state Department of Environmental Conservation as a buffer to the Appalachian Trail.
The site is considered prime for economic development because of its location - on Route 22, the major highway through the Harlem Valley and across the street from a Metro-North Railroad stop - but also because it has existing infrastructure including water and sewer systems.
The sale ends a process that began when the hospital closed in 1994. Once one of the largest employers in eastern Dutchess County, the center employed nearly 1,800 and housed 5,800 patients through the 1950's.
In the last years, the state moved toward community-based care for the mentally ill. That left New York with more institutions than it needed. The state has plans to sell or dispose of about 20 facilities similar to Harlem Valley.
But to residents of eastern Dutchess, the center's closure meant the end of an economic mainstay. And the struggle became more difficult as Taconic Developmentally Disabled Services Organization in Wassaic also began to place more clients in community-based programs, such as group homes.
Not only do Harlem Valley residents now look forward to economic activity and jobs, the sale will mean expansion of the town's tax base.
"It will provide much-need tax relief to the citizens of Dover," said Dover resident Terry Kelly.
Heelan, president of Heelan Realty and Development Corp., said the process of putting together a team of planners and lawyers has begun, and meetings with the community and local government could begin by the end of the summer.
The state and the developers hope to close the deal by the end of the year. Heelan emphasized that he wanted to work with the town and its residents.
Local government and economic development officials were excited by the news of the sale.
"It's certainly exciting news," said Kathleen Schibanoff, executive director of the Harlem Valley Partnership, a regional organization that proved persistent and important in the effort to push a deal through.
Schibanoff said her organization was looking forward to moving the process "to the next step" - meeting with the developers.
Paul Pearson, a principal with TP Enterprises said he is looking forward to working with local officials.
"We will try to accomplish this (redevelopment) with a sensitivity to the community's needs. We look forward to working with the Town of Dover and the Harlem Valley Partnership as this process unfolds," said Pearson.
Rezoning allows multiple use
The town was anticipating the sale when it adopted its revised zoning earlier this year. Officials designated the psychiatric center as a hamlet area, which allows for a large variety of business and residential land uses.
Supervisor Way also was pleased with the fact senior citizens housing was included in the project plan.
"Senior housing would be fabulous for the community. It's good, clean business," said Way.
As those involved look forward, one question from the past still nags: Why did it take so long to seal a deal that Heelan said he was ready in November 1997? "It was a major bureaucratic process that had to be overcome," he said.
Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus praised the teamwork of local and state officials in putting together the project. "Many of us, business and political officials in Dutchess, worked together to create an economic and jobs engine at that site," said Steinhaus.
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