Developer wants to combine two Moreau golf courses

Developers met with members of the Tee Bird Golf Club on Sunday to discuss proposed plans to buy the facility and develop the surrounding area.

Frank DiPeri, co-founder of New Jersey-based The Metropolitan Athletic Corp., told members at a luncheon on Sunday about proposed plans to turn two nearby Tee Bird Golf Club courses into one 18-hole course.

“We want to take the best of the South and the best of the North and create two holes to make it a full 18,” he said.

The club currently has an 18-hole course called Tee Bird North on Reservoir Road and a nine-hole course called Tee Bird South on Reynolds Road. Tee Bird’s current owner Todd Heyda did not return calls from The Post-Star last week.

DiPeri said there are also plans to develop the area surrounding the golf course, but he said he is not willing to announce those plans until Memorial Day. Asked about his interest in Moreau, DiPeri said the area is charming and promising, pointing to the GlobalFoundries computer-chip plant under construction in Malta.

Last week, Moreau Supervisor Preston Jenkins said he heard the developers were planning to build 300 homes around the course, and that they had hired Jim Mitchell, an engineer with Environmental Design Partnership LLP of Clifton Park.

According to Jenkins, Joe Patricke, the town’s building inspector and code enforcement officer, said the project plans could come before the Town Planning Board mid-summer.

Patricke did not return calls from The Post-Star last week.

DiPeri did say, however, that his group also intends to build an enclosed horse training track and outdoor arena at nearby Haven Oaks Farm. Putting in a bed and breakfast and an ice cream stand on the horse farm is also being discussed, DiPeri said.

The Metropolitan Athletic Corp., which in addition to real estate development also provides underprivileged kids opportunities through athletics, is currently working with Stone Group Development of New Jersey and Haven Oaks Farm on the concept.

Haven Oaks, which offers breeding and racing services for thoroughbreds, is located across the street from the Tee Bird South course on Reynolds Road.

Lynn Cafora, a spokeswoman for The Metropolitan Athletic Corp., said Haven Oaks’ owners Jim and Sue Hooper have been working with teens and adults with drug and alcohol addictions on their farm for years. And recently, Jim Hooper has had major success racing their thoroughbred horse Inherit the Gold.

The new horse arena, Cafora said, would be the home to Inherit the Gold and stimulate the local economy.

The ultimate plan, Cafora said, is to offer college-accredited internships, as well as programs for underprivileged youth at Haven Oaks and the golf course.

Source: www.poststar.com