CHESTER – Mountco Developers of Scarsdale is hopeful that due diligence can be completed in short order so that the necessary environmental studies and local approvals can be secured to move the former Camp LaGuardia project forward.

Mountco President Joel Mounty won the approval of Orange County to buy and develop the 260 acre property in the towns of Chester and Blooming Grove.

Mounty’s plans call for 800 units of housing and 250,000 square feet of commercial and retail space. Among the housing concepts would be senior housing, family affordable, single family and first-time homebuyer units, mostly rental, he said.

Mounty also plans to develop it in a community setting. “Our concept calls for creating a small type of village there, so in the middle of the project, we are proposing a grassy commons or a plaza, with outdoor seating,” he said. “It would be more of the village type of retail rather than the big box store.”

The first tenant to sign on is Newburgh’s Mount Saint Mary College, which plans to develop a continuing education center there.

In order to develop the property effectively, Mounty said all of the existing dozen or so buildings would come down and make way for new structures.

Mounty acknowledged that traffic could be an issue and that’s why studies would be conducted to determine impacts, he said.