By Rob Sample
On Monday, February 5, the Marlborough Planning Board got a sneak preview of an upscale resort that may one day be built on a 152-acre site at 626 Lattintown Road.
The new property is being dubbed the Marlborough Resort. It would be developed by a company called Seven24 Collective, based in New York City. The Lattintown Road location currently has elements of a lodge that dates back 100 years and is known as St. Hubert’s Lodge and Club.
The Seven24 Collective would expand it, repurposing some of the existing buildings and renovating the existing lodge. The Collective would also seek to add new recreational and hospitality facilities.
Michael Aschenbaum, a Seven24 partner, said the site was chosen for its natural beauty and that the new 130-unit resort would blend perfectly with the town’s focus on agritourism.
“The experience we are looking to create is largely there already,” said Aschenbaum, whose father, William Aschenbaum, is the owner and developer of the Gansevoort Hotel in New York City, among numerous other properties in New York and New Jersey.
The project would be built in three phases. An existing main lodge would be revamped and would encompass two guest rooms, private dining, and a saloon. Two existing cabins would also be refurbished. Additional structures would include a welcome building and entry cottage, a 28-room hotel and garden, 90 lodging units in 45 two-unit cabins, eight one-bedroom cabins, eight five-bedroom residences, and an events center and spa.
The owners would seek to have the events center host corporate events and other meetings in addition to weddings, so that it would host guests seven days a week.
The complex would also encompass two restaurants and a barbeque facility, an “orangery” (a glass conservatory housing fruit trees during winter) and courtyard, an operations building, dormitory housing for 28 staff members, and parking.
There are existing orchards on site, and Aschenbaum said the resort might partner with a local grower of both apples and grapes, adding to the ambience. However, the resort company would not engage in any agricultural business itself.
Steven Tinkelman of Poughkeepsie, the project’s architect, noted in the application that both building the resort and its operation will be eco-sensitive and integrated with existing roadways and developed areas.
“Our design process prioritizes sustainability, minimal environmental impact, and preservation of the natural landscape,” Tinkelman said, “while safeguarding forested areas, slopes, hydrology, and agriculture lands.”
The enterprise would be a boon to the economy of both the Town of Marlborough and Ulster County, said Sean Largotta, managing partner of the Seven24 Collective.
“It would create 42 managerial positions in phase one alone,” he said, with salaries beginning at $88,000 yearly. “Plus, there would be 80 seasonal positions.” Just the hotel occupancy tax would bring in approximately $427,000 in the first year of operation. By year 10, that figure would be $1.5 million, he said.
Chris LaPorta, Hudson Valley manager for the civil-engineering firm of Passero Associates, floated several additional possibilities for the property. The parcel extends to the ridgeline, and the developers may seek to build a gravel road to it for guests to take in views. The Seven24 team is also exploring several ideas for sanitation at the site, including the possible construction of a treatment facility.
Patrick Hines, principal of MHE Engineering and the town’s engineering consultant, cited several preliminary concerns the project would face. “Several of the uses proposed aren’t permitted for a property zoned rural-agricultural,” Hines said.
These include a proposed wine bar and retail store on the property. In addition, the site’s multiple lots would need to be combined into one tax parcel, he said.
Among other business the Planning Board voted to authorize the town’s attorney, Meghan Clemente, to draft an approval letter for a short-term rental at 79 Ridge Road in Marlboro. The property is a two-bedroom house and the applicants, Alan Slutsky and Jaclyn Bowdren, live next door at 73 Ridge Road. The board determined that the applicants met previously cited concerns regarding parking and occupancy limits.
At the Board’s instruction, Clemente will also draft a letter of approval for Stralow Farm at 551 Lattintown Road. At that property, the owner seeks approval for a “tiny house” onsite being used as a short-term rental. In particular, the sanitary system and proposed turnaround on a road that bisects the property met the Planning Board’s requirements.
An application involving 548 and 550 Lattintown Road will require review and approval by the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) for non-conforming lots. There, Dennis and Carolyn Bush of 548 Lattintown Road seek to transfer 1.46 acres of their property to neighbor Brian Watson of 550 Lattintown Road.
The Board also found issues with the application by Michael and Jennifer DiViesti to subdivide their two-acre lot parcel, which already has two houses on it. As a result, each house would sit on a one-acre lot. The Board referred the application to the ZBA for review.