RYE BROOK, N.Y. – A former hotel site just over a mile from the Greenwich border may soon be home to a wellness center, residences, medical offices and, once again, a hotel.
The Doral Arrowwood hotel and resort, at 975 Anderson Hill Road in Rye Brook, N.Y., closed in 2019. Now, developers with the Cohen Brothers Realty Corporation are seeking approvals from the village of Rye Brook to demolish the old structure there and develop a new mixed-use operation.
“It’s something we think will raise the bar significantly….and put Rye Brook at the forefront,” said developer Charles Cohen at a recent meeting of the Rye Brook Village Board of Trustees, where village leaders were given an informal preview of the proposal.
The plan envisions a large hotel, with 220 rooms and a grand ballroom, as well as a conference center, a wellness center and medical offices. The project includes 115 residential units. Roughly 70 to 75 units would be in a standalone structure and the others would be in the hotel. Cohen said it had not been determined yet whether the units would be rentals or owner-occupied.
The architecture of all the buildings would be in the Adirondack style, and Cohen said he wanted a “rustic” feel for the development. The hotel was referred to as a “lodge,” and it would be built in a semi-circular fashion around a pond on the 77-acre site.
Cohen said he was seeking to partner with a major medical organization, naming Yale New Haven Health or Weill Cornell Medicine as examples, to operate in the medical office building.
The development team said interior demolition had already begun, and structural demolition of the old hotel with 360 rooms would begin in the next few months. Cohen said the old building would be gone in six months.
The project, which has not yet been named, needs zoning changes from the village board, as well as approvals from land-use committees. The developers said they hoped to file a formal submission in early 2024.
The proposal received initial endorsement from the village board.
“We’re always excited to have investment in Rye Brook,” said Mayor Jason Klein. “We certainly miss our hotel, and we’re glad to see a proposal that has a hotel component in it. Generally speaking, it’s a positive reception for what we’re seeing.”
Klein noted that a village requirement for ten percent of the units to be designated as “affordable” would be upheld.
“It’s very attractive,” said Susan Epstein, a village trustee. “It will enhance Rye Brook.”
The planned redevelopment of the Doral Arrowwood site comes at a time when numerous large-scale development projects are underway in nearby Port Chester, some just steps from the Greenwich border.
The old hotel was used for a time to house out-of-state nurses who were working in the region during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The project has been in the planning stages for over a year.
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