Gardiner - A legal battle has forced the sale of the Awosting Reserve - the piece of the Shawangunk Ridge at the center of a three-year battle among developers, environmentalists and local residents.
The asking price: $35 million.
"I am forced to get rid of it," said John Bradley, general partner of Awosting Reserve LLC. He is being sued by other partners in the corporation and by Chaffin Light Associates.
Chaffin Light was hired in 2002 to develop 2,660 acres of environmentally sensitive land on the Shawangunk Ridge. The Nature Conservancy thinks so much of the ridge and its rare species that it dubbed it one of the planet's "last great places."
The land encompasses eight waterfalls, one lake, 10 mountain streams, 20 miles of trails and 10 miles of carriage roads. The parcel is central to spectacular views of the ridge, in addition to its own vistas of the Catskill Mountains, the Hudson Highlands, and the Delaware, Rondout, Wallkill and Hudson valleys.
Chaffin Light proposed to build 353 luxury homes, a golf course, fitness center and more on the property. The company encountered a firestorm of opposition. "Save the Ridge" signs sprouted on lawns like daisies. In April 2004, Bradley fired Chaffin Light, saying he was unhappy with the company's performance. The lawsuit followed.
Bradley said yesterday that he has to sell the land so he can get rid of the limited partners in the corporation and Chaffin Light. Jim Chaffin of Chaffin Light did not return calls for comment.
Bradley said he wants to see the land developed in a more natural way, a far different way than proposed by Chaffin Light.
"I hope the right people come in," he said. "But if it ends up going to the highest bidders - and that is what I am directed to do - it will end up being something else."
The potential sale concerns environmentalists who monitor development on the ridge.
"A lot of us have been worried about the property for a long time," said Joe Martens, president of the Open Space Institute, a regional environmental group. "I am not sure how it is all going to get sorted out. We are happy to work with whomever has control of the property."
Keith LaBudde, president of the Friends of the Shawangunks and chairman of the Shawangunk Ridge Coalition, was skeptical. "Thirty-five million? Dream on, John. Dream on," he said.
Much of the vitriol directed at Bradley was undeserved, said Bill Richards, a member of the Gardiner Town Board. "John got maligned during the whole thing," Richards said.
At one point, Richards tried to put together residents, environmentalists and local governments to buy about 2,100 acres of the land for $21 million. "But I haven't gotten a lot of support," he said.
He foresees development on the ridge. "Some rich guy is going to buy it and turn it into a mountainside estate," he said.
It might not take long. The real estate has been listed for about six weeks, according to Lawrence Daitch, an agent with Prudential Douglas Elliman in New York City. Daitch is the agent on the listing.
"There has been a great deal of response," Daitch said.
