Hole in One for Stony Point; Patriot Hills Park LLC Inks Deal to Buy Town’s Golf Course for $6.4 Million

Stony Point’s Patriot Hills Golf Course offers winning views of the Hudson, but its $1.5 million yearly maintenance cost was a losing proposition for taxpayers.

The town has owned the property since 1973 and built the golf course 20 years ago with the expectation it would attract at least 50,000 rounds of golf a year, said Supervisor Jim Monaghan. “As it turned out, it only attracted an average of 30,000 rounds a year—in a good year—and that left the taxpayers footing the bill.”    

That will change now that the Town and Patriot Hills Park LLC—Stony Point residents Raja Amar and Brian Hayman, along with Lawrence Melchionda, are its principals –entered into a contract to buy the golf course, its catering facility and pro shop, along with the 25 acres adjoining the golf course, for $6.4 million, announcing the deal on Tuesday, April 13.  $3 million in cash will be given to the Town at the closing, which is expected to take place within 120 days—and an additional $3.4 million performance bond will go toward the construction of a new Community Center for the town. The deal also calls for Patriot Hills, LLC to remediate the Letchworth Village buildings that remain on the golf course’s adjoining 25-acre property.

Patriot Hills will remain accessible to Stony Point residents and their guests, added Monaghan, saying the new owners will allow free rounds to active volunteers from Wayne Hose Fire Company and Stony Point Ambulance. “It’s a tremendous boost for our first responders,” said Monaghan, “and it’s also a great way to attract new volunteers. This contract will, at long last, allow this site to generate income rather than draining our resources; and it will do that while maintaining the character of this community.” 

“The golf course will get the investment it needs,” added Deputy Supervisor Tom Basile. “We would not sell this property without our conditions being met. We’ve worked on this for the past three years…and the contract we signed meets and exceeds all of the conditions we set forth…Amar and his team will enhance the character and historic significance of our Town.”

Amar said he’s passionate about the project and expects to spend $15-20 million over the next three years to revitalize the 18-hole golf course, its clubhouse and adjoining catering facility, The Grille Room. His goal is to make Patriot Hills one of the Top 100 courses in the U.S. Amar also expects the remediation/removal of the Letchworth buildings to take between 3-5 years to complete and expects to spend an estimated $6 million on (Currently, five of the ten buildings on the 25 acres adjoining the golf course are in use.) Kirkbride Hall will also see some renovations and be leased back to the town for $1 a year so it can continue to use it for basketball and community events.  the Town will continue to use the RHO building for its senior center, events and municipal meetings until the new Community Center is constructed. Talk of bringing a major hotel chain to the property has been discussed in the past and may still be an option for the property’s new owners.

Raja Amar is the principal/CEO of T-Mobile wholesaler Portables Unlimited, based in Nanuet.

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