What is happening at Oheka

Even though the town approved the Oheka Castle’s condominiums, the project has been stalled by the Cold Spring Country Club. Through a series of legal maneuvers that will ultimately be decided in the courts, they have been able to delay the start of the project. Funded by the Brooklyn based developer, FBE, that wants to buy the land from the club and build on it (and may possibly seek Oheka itself), the club has obstructed anything moving forward.

The Long-Islander caught up with Gary Melius, owner of Oheka Castle, and asked him a few questions about how plans for Oheka condominiums have progressed since the Town of Huntington approved the plans on March 20th, 2023.

LIN: What did the approval of the Zoning changes mean for your project?

Melius: What we got from the town [approval on March 20th] allowed amendments to the historic overlay district for our project. This basically means that we can continue the project in the scaled down manner that completely fits on Oheka property.

LIN: You originally had much larger plans, what forced the downsizing?

Melius: I was put in technical default by my lender. They were holding millions in a capital expenditure account for improvements at Oheka that were to be released to me when I did improvements. I did them and they delayed releasing the money to me. They were instructed to take mortgage payments out of the money they owed me. Business practices, coupled with the fact I had been shot, put the project on hold. When I revived it, I did have a lot of potential partners. The most notable was Stan Gale, who was long on promises but very short on access to the actual funds to get the deal done. Oheka’s problems are the result of being shot in the head.

Delay after delay left me in a financially weakened condition. Without the project Oheka would be in serious jeopardy. I was introduced to FBE last year in order to bring the plan alive again. I gave them all of the information and shared with them proprietary data since they were to be my partner. I included the Country Club in all of the discussions. At some point, FBE decided that they didn't need me since they had all of my information and began discussing with the Country Club directly on how to eliminate Oheka. FBE is a commercial developer from Brooklyn and does not care about the history of Oheka, nor about the people who live in the area or around our town. What was shocking was that the Country Club turned their back on me and the castle. Over the years I gave them tens of millions of dollars when they were battling for their survival. I included them as partners and treated them extremely well. I helped them with a parcel of land that they had no plans for, and without me, could not have been used.

LIN: The Huntington community is kind of caught in the back-and-forth between these two properties. Have they voiced any concern about the proposed projects?

Melius: I never opposed their plan, but on the other hand they have done everything they could to stop me with frivolous lawsuits and bad publicity. We are both in a stalemate until the courts make a decision. All I want to do is what I got approval for, 95 units on my property alone. I’m not stopping them from doing what they want to do. At the town hearing [on March 20th] 200 members of the Cold Spring Hills Civic Association (CHSCA) showed up in support of my project. Everything has been put before the community and the Town.

Oheka Castle is bigger than any single person. It was built at a time of grandeur and has been restored to its original concept of the Gold Coast. The castle is a throwback to a different time in the United States, in the world, and especially on Long Island. My goal in this plan is to preserve the castle and the grounds and the concept well into the future. That is what my plan is to build. It is not just an apartment building, its karma, it's a tie to the past and a gift to the future. By building the residences, I can provide funding for the upkeep of Oheka as well as additional funds for other historic sites in our town. Our vision for the development goes well beyond what FBE from Brooklyn would ever try to do for our town. What is extremely puzzling is the question of why the Country Club refuses to go along with a deal that would have benefited the community, and instead they are greedily trying to push as much into their own pockets. I can only think that greed is very active here, and they think that our plan of funding historic sites and preserving the crown jewel of Oheka Castle for generations to come is a lot more authentic. Oheka is a world-renowned brand and has raised property values.

LIN: Are there any plans to revise your plans to address the traffic issue?

Melius: I have no plans to change anything at this time. The battle for us not to use Eastgate as an egress is laughable and downright silly. While that road was built by Otto Khan when he built his castle, it was used by everyone who was part of the castle well before the club ever came into existence. It is still used today by not only the castle, but also the florist who is on the other side of the club. East Gate has been used for 103 years since by Otto Kahn, for 82 years by Otto Keil (the original florists), Eastern Military Academy for 40 years, CSHCA for 47 years, and Oheka for 38 years. The club bought East Gate 25 years after I started using it. What they are trying to do is just disrupt and delay my project. Their lawsuit is frivolous and should be rejected out of hand. We have the right of way over that road, we've had it for years and used it for years and will continue to do so for years.

In an example of their grasping at air, they claim I was only approved to use the road for trucks, From the date they bought it until now, they have never said that cars could not use it. As far as the historic easement is concerned, it has been used by Otto Khan, the Military Academy, and me for over 100 years.

LIN: Has there been any progress on the Article 78 lawsuit brought to challenge an action by the town board?

Melius: We’re waiting on the courts to decide what happens next. Again, this action was silly and desperate. This is the Brooklyn developer trying to delay my development in order to drive Oheka out of business, and possibly appropriate the property for their own further development. They are saying the Town Board failed to conduct proper reviews and abused their authority in using Historic Overlay Districts. They said the town engaged in a “development scheme”. How insulting to me, our town and our community. At the end of the day, they want to build almost 200 units and are not satisfied with the smaller plan. It is not that they do not want it developed, they are just greedy and don’t care who they smear to get their own way.

LIN: Did we miss anything?

Melius: I started the project in 2005, putting the plan before the community and the town. At the public hearing, not one person opposed the 190 units in the condo project – the Civic Association spokesperson said “give him whatever he wants, we trust him”. I earned that trust over the years.

I have been very good to the membership of the Country Club. Over the course of time for the original project, I gave the club $6.4M because of the project I put together, the club is in contract to get another $14M bringing the total to $20.4M.

Then Newsday started writing stories about me, 180 of them. This prompted the FBI to investigate me for 3.5 years. After all of that, nothing was found against me criminally or civilly. Nothing! It was a huge witch hunt driven by reckless, so called, journalists.

I had $52M to put into the start of the project, but because of the biased bad press coverage and the FBI investigation, as well as getting shot in the head, future investors were leery of doing any business with me.

And guess what? I am still here, still moving ahead. These lawsuits FBS and the Country Club are filing are nothing more than a delay tactic to try to drive me out of business or to die before I can finish my project. Well, they are wrong on both counts. We will get the project done and I will be at the Grand Opening with my friends from the community that I have worked with for so long.

As of today, the club can still do their 95 units, but that is not good enough for them.

LIN: Any final thoughts?

Melius: The Castle is a national treasure, and I am only the steward taking care of it for future generations to remember and enjoy. I have spent so much of my life and money to restore the castle to its original grandeur. It was a labor of love that I am very proud to have done. Under this plan, we preserve the Castle, the grounds, as well as other historic sites in our town. FBE and the Board of the Country Club need to focus less on themselves and be more concerned about the community and Oheka.