Bellefield at Hyde Park: Hudson Valley’s First Farm-to-Table Planned Community

  |  April 22, 2015
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Artist’s rendering of Market Square, Bellefield at Historic Hyde Park.

 

Speaking of history, looks like a development of historic proportions is headed down Hyde Park way. Specifically, a 340 acre planned, all-inclusive community centered around a 45 acre working farm called Bellefield at Historic Hyde Park. The development, which is set to be located on land currently owned by T-Rex Capital, is situated right across the street from the Culinary Institute. That makes perfect sense, given that the entire crux of the housing/retail/spa/recreation community is centered around eating locally-sourced farm-to-table, whether those comestibles come from their own farm or area farms. The Hudson Valley News did a front-pager on the project, which as met with some controversy when tree-clearing was taking place on the property but the Hyde Park mayor refusing to acknowledge that a development was shaping up there.

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Now, just to clarify: When we say “planned, all-inclusive community,” what we actually mean is that Bellefield will be its own town, complete with 559 private residences, luxury hotel, spa, farm-to-table restaurants, a performing arts center, a market square with boutiques and grocery stores, year-round farmers market, conference center, outdoor amphitheatre, and an extensive network of biking/hiking/walking trails. Get down to the project’s nitty-gritty here on the Bellefield’s “Vision Document”. Or, watch a 6-minute video about it. We’re curious to see how this development develops. Hyde Park is rich in history but poor in the kind of walkable, cohesive downtown that so many are looking for these days in a Hudson Valley homestead. What are your thoughts on Bellefield? Local economic boom, or self-contained, exclusionary bust? Tell us in the comments!

About Kandy Harris

Kandy is a writer and musician/music teacher living in Saugerties, NY.

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