OHEKA Castle, the storied Cold Spring Hills estate that developer Gary Melius has restored into a premier space for high-end weddings and other events, appears poised to become OHEKA empire.
In addition to an under-development restaurant that will be open to the public and an under-consideration spa, Melius seems finally to have made some headway in his years-long effort to expand into land now held by the member-owned Cold Spring Country Club.
Last week, the club's board voted to recommend that the membership approve Melius' latest proposal, under which he would purchase the development rights for the entire golf course and build about 150 luxury hotel-condominium units on a 13-acre parcel adjoining the castle.
A previous proposal to buy the entire club and build 250 high-end town houses there fell apart in 2006, after the parties hit an impasse on contract language regarding development rights.
Melius said he is going for the increasingly popular hotel-condominium setup this time because "this would be more what OHEKA stands for." (OHEKA also stands for Otto Hermann Kahn, the financier who built the 109,000-square-foot estate. It was and remains the second-largest private residence in America.)
Melius had to buy the golf course's development rights so he could build the 150 units in three three-story buildings on the parcel, but he said this is a boon for the Cold Spring Hills community and for OHEKA, since it will prevent the future subdivision and development of single-family homes on the course.
"I think the club negotiated in very good faith for their members a fair deal for me and the neighbors," Melius said, "and the civics have been terrific" in their support for the proposal.
Meanwhile, Melius is hard at work planning the restaurant for inside OHEKA's battlements. He hopes to open it to the public this fall.
James Margolin, a Huntington attorney and member of the Cold Spring club who has been negotiating with Melius, said the membership will vote on the proposal in a special meeting this spring.
