Paramount Country Club promotes housing support to preserve the golf course
Owners of Paramount Country Club plan residential development on property in New City, NY
The owners of the Paramount Country Club plan to build a variety of residential homes on their property while preserving the golf course
- In addition to the homes, Paramount has offered to title to about two-thirds of the 217-acre property.
- Clarkstown Mayor George Hoehmann said officials were aware of the plan, “but the city does not have a formal proposal for review.”
- The property was once the home and private recreation area of Paramount Pictures boss Adolf Zukor.
The owners of the Paramount Country Club in New City are pushing forward a plan to create approximately 247 residential units on the club’s site.
Applications for the necessary building permits have not yet been submitted. “We are bringing the idea into the world,” said Steve Lapper, who represents Paramount.
The club is owned by the Mandelbaum family, a real estate company based in New Jersey.
Lapper said the plan is not predetermined. “The preliminary plan is basically a proposal,” he said as he and a reporter drove around the site in a golf cart. “It’s inevitable that there will be some changes.”
And there’s a bonus to these permits: Paramount has offered to retain about two-thirds of the 217-acre property, including the golf course, through a title restriction. The homes would be built on about 31 acres of the site. “This will ensure that it remains undeveloped and protected as open space by preventing future development,” the promotional materials say.
Paramount has set up an information website about the plan, Paramountandclarkstown.com, where people are encouraged to sign up to show their support. As of July 1, about 150 had signed up, many of them neighbors of the site, Lapper said.
No formal proposal for Paramount Country Club to be evaluated yet
Clarkstown Mayor George Hoehmann said officials were aware of the plans and the public campaign.
“However, the city does not have a formal proposal for consideration,” the Republican supervisor said.
The project would require zoning changes.
City officials have stated that the current conservation zone in the area includes 1.6 hectares of land.
Clarkstown is the only town in Rockland that does not have a municipal golf course. In the early 2000s, the Town of Clarkstown considered purchasing what was then the Dellwood Country Club, but the plan did not go ahead. In the 1990s, Clarkstown purchased a property in Ramapo for $4.5 million to build a municipal golf course one town away; Clarkstown later sold the land.
Hoehmann said Paramount is important beyond New City.
“There was an effort years ago to preserve the golf course,” Hoehmann said. “It is a historic monument. We absolutely want to make sure that the golf course is protected forever as the jewel that it is.”
The plan: “Country club lifestyle”
The development plan calls for a mix of condominiums, townhomes and golf villas or detached ranch-style homes on the club grounds within the golf course.
Homebuyers could be offered house memberships and other membership packages that allow use of certain amenities with possible discounts, but membership in the club would not be mandatory, Lapper said. A house membership typically means access to amenities but not the golf course.
The prestigious golf course is just one of the club’s amenities. There is a restaurant and catering, a full clubhouse and rental space for weddings and events, tennis courts and an Olympic-sized swimming pool. There is also a playground, overnight accommodations, a rose garden and well-appointed facilities outside the 243-acre golf course.
Lapper said current membership at the country club is high.
The development would mainly take place on 31 hectares, most of which are currently unused. Historic main buildings such as the clubhouse would not be touched. “It is not a haphazard plan to build on all the areas,” said Lapper.
The property’s owners have proposed providing emergency responder units at a significantly reduced cost to provide affordable housing for paramedics and firefighters. Lapper could not provide the number or ratio of units.
The developer also touts job creation and expects at least $3 million in additional property tax revenue for the city and school from owners of the new apartments. The agreement to develop the remaining buildings could lead to an initiative to reduce the club’s taxes.
There will be no age restriction, as with the 55-and-over units Clarkstown hopes to attract with its Active Adult Residential Floating Zone. However, Lapper said, the units tend to have fewer bedrooms and the plan emphasizes the “country club lifestyle.”
He described the project as “age-appropriate.”
“The plan is not particularly family-friendly,” said Lapper.
“Risk” of future development in fast-growing Rockland
In the background is the fear of change that is always a theme in fast-growing Rockland. On Paramount’s website touting the plan, there is a section titled “Prevent alternative development on the land.”
“There is a risk that the property will be developed into something undesirable in the future,” the website states.
In 2004, another developer had its eye on the property for residential use, but the deal fell through. Lorterdan Properties of Montclair, New Jersey, wanted to buy the club and then build homes on the course after the Dellwood members’ lease expired in 2019.
Paramount’s current protections make it clear that won’t happen. That is, if the pieces of their plan, including zoning and permits, fall into place.
Key materials highlight the closure and sale of area golf courses, including Miller’s Pond, the former Minisceongo Golf Course on Pomona Road in Ramapo, which is now being redeveloped into a large, self-contained development of apartments, townhouses and retail space.
Also mentioned is the New York Country Club in New Hempstead, which, according to the website, “has been sold to a Monsey-based company with plans to develop the entire property, with the golf and recreational facilities eventually disappearing.”
Lapper described the Mandelbaum family’s company as a “generational company” and said the housing plan is being launched now because it is the right time.
The “Florida lifestyle” or “country club life” of living near a golf course is unusual for Rockland. But it’s an increasingly popular option in nearby Bergen County, New Jersey. Lapper said the development could stem the “migration” of people at a certain income level.
The prices for the houses in the settlement have not been disclosed.
Paramount Pictures directs Adolf Zukor’s former playground
The property was once the home and private recreation area of Paramount Pictures head Adolf Zukor. In 1918, Zukor purchased 300 acres north of New City with a huge house, a nine-hole golf course and a swimming pool.
Soon after, Zukor purchased another 500 acres and commissioned legendary architect AW Tillinghast to expand the course to 18 holes at what he called Mountain View Farm. This distinction of Tillinghast’s is still highly praised among golf enthusiasts today.
When Paramount and Zukor’s fortunes fell apart, he opened the course to members in 1936. Zukor sold the course in 1948 and died in 1976 at the age of 103.
In a nod to its roots, the club became Paramount when it was sold to the Mandelbaum family in 2009.
The family commissioned the well-known golf architect Jim Urbina to beautify the course.
Golf Digest gave the course 4 out of 5 stars. “Worth a visit if you get an invitation,” says a 2021 review.
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