Dive Brief:
- Construction of the $500 million Bellefield at Historic Hyde Park mixed-use development is underway in the Hudson Valley area of New York, according to the Daily Freeman, billed by developers as the area's "community for food, culture and wellness."
- First in line for completion is $60 million worth of infrastructure and the 133-room Residence Inn-branded Inn at Bellefield. According to documents prepared by CMS Architecture & Design for investment and asset management firm T-Rex Capital Group, the finished project will include a total of 59 residences, representing a variety of regional architectural styles; a 45-acre agriculture complex; two hotels; a "market square" with restaurants, specialty food stores and wine shops; a year-round farmers market; a village green; conference center; performing arts center and amphitheater; and walking, hiking and biking trails through a nature preserve. Construction materials are to be eco-conscious, and buildings will include geothermal heating and solar energy. According to the Poughkeepsie Journal, Bellefield developers contributed $1.2 million toward new sewer lines for Hyde Park as part of a deal to allow the development to operate on its own septic system.
- Construction of the hotel component alone at Bellefield is expected to create 550 jobs. Located across the street from the Culinary Institute of America, a mile from the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and 90 minutes from New York City, the first phase of the project should generate more than $630 million in economic benefits and $118 million in tax revenue over 10 years.
Dive Insight:
In order to cater to those in search of a healthy or more rural lifestyle, some developments are including agricultural elements in their projects.
The Grow, a $1 billion, 1,200-acre project planned for the east Orlando area, according to the Orlando Business Journal, is also banking on the public's desire to get a little closer to nature. Community plans include a nine-acre farm, which developers call the focal point of the project, plus 21 acres of community gardens, an event lawn and barn, an equestrian center, an elementary school, a town center and more than 170,000 square feet of commercial space.
The development will also feature edible landscape trails, a 20-acre community park, 12 miles of recreational trails, a farmer's market and a "farm-and-table" restaurant that will serve what is grown on the property.
Similar to The Grow is Agritopia, a master-planned community in the Phoenix metro area. At the 160-acre development's core are 11 acres of certified organic farmland that supply Agritopia's restaurants in addition to those in the surrounding community. A planned 20-acre "Epicenter" with retail and apartments will serve as the "urban core" of the development.
