Hoshino Resorts is back.
And ready to go.
Not quite a year after the Japan-based hospitality firm got the zoning change needed to let it begin designing an exclusive spa on the site of the Magnesium Temple in the Village of Sharon Springs, reps brought their plans to the Joint Planning Board Wednesday.
Mike Ingersoll of consultant the LA Group, ran through the sketch plan for JPB members, asking for feedback as they move through the process.
“One thing we have learned over the past year is that our client is very serious about what they want to do here” and taking the time to do it well, Mr. Ingersoll said.
Under the timeline shared Wednesday, the preliminary site plan will be submitted for review in April; that review is expected to take until August.
The final site plan application could be approved in November with construction beginning in April 2026, with the opening of the hot spring onsen ryokan in the summer of 2028.
The steep, heavily-ravined project site is about 50 acres, all but five of it in the village.
Like Hoshino projects elsewhere, Mr. Ingersoll said it will be built into those natural terrains with at least 75 percent of it left as open space.
The Planned Development District the JPB granted Hoshino in January allows for up to 40 bungalow-style units, he said; they’re planning just 28 “intimate” structures dispersed across the site.
A tree survey found more than 2,000 trees eight-inches or larger, he said, and while not everyone will be saved, “they are very important and very integral to what we’ve doing.
“Our intent is not to destroy the environment or take away an asset.”
It’s unclear whether the home and outbuildings on the site can be saved and restored--Hoshino reps said probably not—but the Magnesium Temple will be rebuilt.
Because it’s so important historically, Hoshino is looking to allow some sort of public access to it.
One of the more interesting details to emerge, Mr. Ingersoll said, is that guests will be transported by tram from a reception center at the entrance to their units.
“You leave your machines behind,” he said. “You’ll be immersed in the environment.”
JPB members asked questions about wells and water, housing for 25-30 employees off Beechwood Road, and the target market and likely rates.
The rates haven’t been set yet, Libby Clark, attorney for Hoshino said, but it will be considered “high-end boutique.”
All amenities and food will be included, she said, with the expected cost at least $500/night.
The clientele, Ms. Clark said, will be national and international.
“It’s not intended to be inclusionary,” but rather private, she said, but at the same time, they will be looking to work with the local community.
“This is the most real the design has ever been,” she told the JPB. “Now the conversation becomes much more significant.”
The JPB named Delaware Engineering as its engineer for the project and also directed Hoshino to replenish its engineering and legal escrows by $10,000.