Silo Ridge: Its history and its future

Silo Ridge Field Club developers Stoneleaf Partners and Discovery Land Company held an informational presentation on the project to a packed Amenia Town Hall auditorium audience, Monday, March 24.The meeting opened with Stoneleaf CEO Pedro Torres, who explained that his father-in-law purchased the property in 2000.By 2009, Torres’ group — then called Millbrook Ventures — received their initial approvals from Amenia’s Planning Board.In 2012, after a lull in activity from the public eye, Stoneleaf was approached by Discovery with an inquiry for partnership.“[Discovery] was interested in coming to Dutchess County. They fell in love with the property. We ended up doing a partnership and we’ve been working on the project for the last year.”Discovery Land is based out of Scottsdale, Ariz., and is a “privately-held, full-service real estate development company,” according to its website, www.discoverylandco.com.Torres introduced Dan O’Callaghan, Discovery’s director of sales, to speak next at the meeting.O’Callaghan started by offering a personal history of himself and the company.Active for 20 years, the company has 17 clubs/projects, with more than 4,000 members.“What we really focus on and I think what has made Discovery so successful these 20 years are three key things: one is our amenity package,” the representative said.“We will end up building $250 million worth of amenities in the Silo Ridge Field Club between golf and dining facilities and spa facilities and what have you,” O’Callaghan said.O’Callaghan also focused on the company’s attention to detail and commitment to “over-deliver.”“I think the town will really benefit from the detail that Discovery Land Company puts into this project,” he said. O’Callaghan added that the company will contribute to a charity in Dutchess County to extend the club’s involvement within the community, though one had not been chosen by the time of the presentation.Before introducing Stoneleaf Vice President of Construction Mike Dignacco, the Discovery representative announced that New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira has committed to be a member at the club, which he felt was exciting news for the baseball town.Dignacco walked the audience through a timeline: the project started with scoping between 2003 and 2005, drafting and finalizing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) between 2006 and 2009, which was done under the Planning Board’s review as a part of the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) process, and then securing master development plan (MDP) and special use permit approvals in 2009.Slowed down by the economy, the project revitalized in 2012 with the entrance of Discovery.“What we’ve done to date since they joined us is we got part of the golf course approved. Construction has started, five holes and also the driving range. And we’ve submitted our site plan and our amended [MDP] last week, that will now get reviewed by the consultants of the town,” Dignacco said.Later in the presentation Dignacco displayed comparisons between the 2009 and 2014 MDP across a number of slides.Total square footage for the project has dropped from 1.4 million to 985,000. Hotel and lodging was reduced from 300 to 21 units. The 16 buildings that exceeded 35 feet and would need a waiver were shortened to below the height cap. In total, the tax revenue surplus grew from $4.3 million to $8.97 million.Fiscal benefits projected from tourism totaled $3.3 million, between food, transportation/gas and retail goods.Also under fiscal benefits was the projected number of jobs created, with 119 full-time, 79 part-time, 1,800 direct during construction and 1,548 indirect and induced local jobs. Other benefits from the amended plan compared to the original include a decrease in traffic generation, solid waste and wastewater generation, water demand and energy usage.The final slide, entitled “next steps,” specified a findings statement and special use permit from the town, a Phase 1 site plan from the town and involved agencies, and a subdivision and plat from the town and county.Closing the presentation, Torres encouraged audience members to ask any questions informally in the hallway, or to visit the project office at 5021 Route 44.For more information, go to www.siloridge.com.