NYS enters conversations with future owner of Whitney estate

Head of NYS Department of Environmental Conservation engages with buyer to balance development and conservation at 36,600-acre Adirondack retreat

By James M. Odato

New York’s top environmental officer Tuesday said she has been in talks with the proposed buyer of a vast expanse of the Adirondack Park in attempts to encourage a balance of development and protection of the acreage.

Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Amanda Lefton said she reached out to Shawn Todd, chairman of Texas-based Todd Interests. The Dallas development company this spring entered into a contract to purchase the 36,600-acre Whitney Park in Long Lake.

Todd envisions building a high-end retreat with a top golf course, fine-dining restaurant and expanded lodging in the park once owned by mining magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney and his wife Marylou Whitney, and later by Mrs. Whitney’s widower John Hendrickson. All of the owners have died and Hendrickson’s trusteed listed the property for sale this spring for $125 million.

“DEC is now proactively engaged in productive conversations with the contracted buyer of the Whitney estate,” said Commissioner Amanda Lefton in a statement to Adirondack Explorer.  “We recognize the property’s expansive acreage, multiple waterbodies and waterfront, and extensive road networks create an opportunity for development. DEC is interested in ensuring conservation of the land’s most important natural resources, habitat connectivity, and recreational corridors for the benefit of the local community and New Yorkers as a whole.”

She said the department hopes the future uses of the land honors the Whitney and Hendrickson family’s legacy of stewardship and will “allow the state to work towards a conservation outcome that balances private development with community, recreational, and natural resource benefits.”

Lefton, confirmed as commissioner May 28, served as interim DEC leader since February. Shawn Todd said her office contacted him for a conversation just a few days after the Explorer broke the story June 2 about Todd’s contracts to buy Whitney Park and Cady Hill, the Whitney mansion in Saratoga Springs.

Whitney Park is considered prime open space and has been high on the state’s list of sites to conserve. Environmental groups have pushed for it to be included in the Adirondack Forest Preserve to preserve it as wilderness.

However, John Hendrickson, who married Marylou Whitney in 1997, five years after Cornelius “Sonny” Whitney’s death, inherited the property when his wife died in 2019 and put it up for sale to private buyers. 

He disliked the state’s care of about 15,000 Whitney Park acres it purchased in the late 1990s. He was particularly protective of a distinct strain of brook trout in Little Tupper Lake, one of the water bodies transferred to the state, and the fish were harmed by the introduction of bass after state takeover.

As a result, he did not want the remaining 36,600 acres of Whitney Park to go to the state and even proposed subdividing it when attempting to sell the property for $185 million shortly before he died in 2024.

Easements on the table

Lefton appears to be angling for conservation easements that would allow the new owner to enter into deals to protect land Todd Interests does not intend to develop.

RELATED READING: Future plans for 36,600-acre Whitney estate may be limited by past decisions

Much of the Whitney Park acreage is unsuitable for building as it is wetlands. The property holds several residences and cabins, including a retreat called Deerlands with 17 bedrooms.

“For generations, the Whitney family has protected and stewarded a historic property in the heart of the Adirondacks,” Lefton said in her statement. “The State of New York believes in the importance of continuing that legacy.”

She said when the state succeeding in purchasing 14,700 acres of Whitney Park 28 years ago, Marylou Whitney and John Hendrickson “took a monumental step to preserve some of their land for future generations” and the couple continued their thoughtful management of the remaining Whitney Park property “in furtherance of that same ethic.”

Shawn Todd, who founded Todd Interests 35 years ago, said he is encouraged by Lefton’s statement. He said his conversations with her department have been professional. “I’m encouraged with how well they communicated their hope of having a desirable outcome for everyone.”

“I’m glad she recognized the stewardship of John Hendrickson and Marylou Whitney of that asset,” he said. “Her recognizing the development potential is an accurate statement.”

He said he has visited the Long Lake property several times in the past 30 days.

Asked about conservation easements, he said his team has been looking into such possibilities. He added there are “certain aspects” of the Whitney Park transaction “that would greatly diminish the ability to do that.”

He would not get into specifics, but in the past he has referred to deed restrictions on the land that prevents the state from ever acquiring Whitney Park. Edward Hendrickson, trustee of the estate, refused to confirm such language exists.

Environmental groups react

Environmental leaders pressed Gov. Kathy Hochul to find a way to acquire the property a few months after Hendrickson died last August. Since news of Todd Interests’ deal to buy the land, environmental leaders in the Adirondacks have pushed for conservation easements, an option Shawn Todd said he is open to discussing.

John Sheehan, a spokesman for the Adirondack Council, said the group has been hoping DEC would approach Todd Interests and is pleased to hear that has happened.

“Our discussions with the state have made it clear they are working toward a positive outcome on this property,” he said.

He said DEC Commissioner John Cahill, under Gov. George Pataki, acted similarly. Cahill contacted Whitney Industries about buying the 15,000 acres that included LIttle Tupper Lake to protect it from development

Claudia Braymer, executive director of Protect the Adirondacks, called Lefton’s actions “proactive” and “very welcome news.”

Whitney Park has significant conservation and recreation potential for things such as restoring historic canoe routes, she said. “It’s really important that the state does move forward as aggressively as it can to protect Whitney Park,” she said.

Whitney Park, in the northern tier of the 6-million-acre Adirondack Park, includes 22 lakes and ponds and is home to many species of wildlife, birds and plants.

Photo at top courtesy of Gustav Schmiege