SEE RELATED ARTICLE ON PAST DUE PROPERTY TAXES CITYWIDE
Two brothers, successful for decades in the real estate investment and development business, own Chateau Rive in Peekskill, the 53-unit historic apartment building at the former St. Mary’s School on the very top of Fort Hill overlooking the Hudson.
With plans to expand the number of apartments there still in the works, Chateau Rive has not been among their profitable ventures so far. But up first – dealing with nearly $1 million the City of Peekskill claims is a very large unpaid water bill.
Barry and Bruce Akrongold bought the property through their company Chateau Rive Corp. in May of 1993 from 34-11 36th Street Inc. for $1.19 million, according to a deed filed in the Westchester County Clerk’s office.
The former school operated in the building until 1977 under the Sisters of St. Mary, an Episcopal order. In August of 1984 the original developers rented out the first 26 apartments with plans to expand to 60 units.
Chateau Rive now contains 53 units within the approximate 120,000 square feet of space in the building. In 2022 an attorney for the Akrongolds sought and eventually won changes to Peekskill’s zoning laws to allow an additional 40 units to be constructed in the historic building’s gymnasium and swimming pool area and the building’s tower.
The former zoning rules prevented any possibility of expansion. In addition, the cost to build a new water line up to the site to handle extra capacity for the added units was prohibitive until a water main was added as part of the construction of the Ginsburg Development Companies project of the Abbey and Fort Hill apartments.
Ongoing Financial Drain for Akrongold Brothers
Charles Martabano, the attorney representing the Akrongold brothers to seek expansion approval at Chateau Rive, told both the city’s Planning Commission and the Common Council of the financial problems at Chateau Rive.
Citing the inability to expand, Martabano wrote in a September 2022 letter to the Council, “… vast portions of the building rendered unusable and with significant financial burdens attendant to the maintenance, repair and reconstruction and replacement of unique and costly building materials, as a rental property, Chateau Rive has operated at a loss for years.” He stated that revenues were insufficient to fund ongoing maintenance and repair. “It takes a lot of money to maintain these buildings. The building does not make a profit.”
The 100-year-old-plus Gothic style building contains pointed arches at windows, groin-vaulted sally port entries to the courtyard, buttresses and tower crenellations, leaded casement windows, and oriel bay windows cantilevered out from the walls.
Martabano estimated it would cost $1 million to connect a water main for Chateau Rive to the Ginsburg line and that, because the building is historically landmarked, repairs are very expensive. Replacing a single window comes at an astronomical cost. “If that window is a leaded-glass window, as opposed to going to Home Depot and getting a window for $250, we’ll spend $4,000,” Martabano said.
In September 2021 the Akrongolds consolidated five existing mortgages on the Chateau Rive property into one loan for $7.65 million from Prudential Affordable Mortgage Company LLC.
Fresh Capital Needed for $10 Million Expansion
The Common Council did approve zoning changes in December of 2023 to allow Chateau Rive to build new apartments. Barry Akrongold told the Herald he is waiting for a prepayment penalty on the current mortgage to expire before refinancing to raise fresh capital for the expansion. The estimated cost to build 40 new units in the gymnasium and tower parts of the building is approximately $10 million.
The newest in rem list from the Peekskill Finance Department shows that the owner owes $1,052,494 in taxes and penalties on the property at 1500 Fort Hill Road for the tax years 2022 to 2025.
Reached by the Herald, Akrongold said he was not aware of the unpaid bill. He reached out to Peekskill officials after being contacted by the Herald and determined the bill is related to ongoing problems with water main leaks at the site.
“Evidently what they did is charge me one million dollars for water,” Akrongold said. “There was a water line that broke but how they could charge one million is way beyond anything I can imagine.
“Obviously I’m going to challenge that. In the past we’ve had water leaks and we’ve paid some money because it wasn’t worth fighting with them. I think it’s ridiculous.”
Akrongold is chairman of Fortune Financial and Investment Corp., a real estate investment and development company that builds, manages and redevelops properties. He started his company in 1984 with the acquisition of a single cooperative apartment. His portfolio of properties has included residential apartments, cooperative unsold shares, industrial warehouses, retail and resort properties.
Among other projects, Akrongold completed gut rehabilitation and conversion of numerous apartment buildings to cooperative and condominium ownership representing approximately 700 units; building and operating the Seagate Beach Club, a 10-acre oceanfront resort in Brooklyn; the development of a 30,000-square-foot residential and retail condominium project in Manhattan’s South Street Seaport, and the redevelopment of Chateau Rive.
