Feb. 3--HALFMOON -- A long-delayed idea to redevelop property along the Mohawk River has fresh life under a new plan submitted to the town.

The proposal from Krause Properties LLC and Halfmoon Beach Properties LLC calls for 244 condominiums in six buildings, a marina with 75 boatslips and a public park with a boat launch -- all on the 36-acre site of Krause's Restaurant & Grove.

The Beach Road proposal would radically transform a semi-rural section of town with a development unlike any other in Halfmoon.

In fact, Steven Watts, chairman of the town planning board, said the project, dubbed Halfmoon Village and Yacht Club, would have the highest residential density in town if built as proposed.

"It's a big project and it's an attractive project," Watts said. "We've spent a lot of time working with them to get it to a point where it can move forward."

Gail and Gary Krause first proposed developing the property in 2003. But the road to construction has been anything but easy.

In 2004, the couple evicted about three dozen tenants from on-site cottages near the restaurant to make way for development, a controversial move. A year later, the Krauses were sued by BBL Development Group, the Albany company originally contracted to build the project.

But last year, Gail Krause, who could not be reached for comment Monday, took a major step toward getting the project under way by buying 11.5 acres of surrounding property from the state Canal Corp.

The $307,000 purchase added to the amount of developable land at a site that some considered too small for the ambitious condo and marina proposal.

The new plan, though, is slightly less grand than the original, which called for an additional 64 condominiums.

The Halfmoon Town Board is scheduled to acknowledge receiving the revised project at its meeting tonight.

The board, at a later meeting, is expected to consider a special zoning district for the site, just one of many hurdles the project must clear before construction can begin.

The development would be built on the north side of the Mohawk River, at a site between the Northway and Route 9. The project, in fact, could be seen from the Twin Bridges.

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