Notables from an early Bank of America president to a Columbia University laboratory chimpanzee named Nim Chimpsky claimed the Delafield Estate as their home in bygone eras. 

With development at the property set to resume after a long hiatus, the Riverdale estate may see a new generation of noteworthy residents....


http://riverdalepress.com/stories/Delayed-Delafield-construction-resumes,54300?content_sou....

The 22 vacant lots of the Delafield Estate sold for $6.375 million to a Long Island-based developer at an auction on Monday. The highest bidder was not made public, though trustee Salvatore LaMonica said the buyer would be announced in a few weeks. 

More than 30 years ago, developers planned to build 33 luxury homes on a large tract of land between West 246th Street and Douglas Avenue, behind the Riverdale Temple. Eleven houses were constructed, but developer after developer failed to complete the grandiose project....

http://riverdalepress.com/stories/Delafield-lots-sold-for-over-6-million,51401?print=1

Will there be a happy end to the tragic tale of the Delafield Estates?

That depends on the highest bidder. 

At noon on Wednesday, Nov. 7, the long-awaited auction for the 22 vacant lots of the Delafield Estates will take place at Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel of Riverdale, located at 475 W. 250th St......

http://riverdalepress.com/stories/Going-going-to-Delafield-auction,51244

The bulk of the Delafield Estates, a 10.5-acre plot in Riverdale once envisioned as a gated community, is scheduled for public auction on Nov. 7, according to a statement from Brown Harris Stevens, which is marketing the property. The land contains 33 individual lots, including 11 that have been developed and 22 that are up for grabs....

http://therealdeal.com/blog/2012/10/22/delafield-estates-riverdales-largest-undeveloped-parcel-up-for-auction/

After 30 years of failed attempts at developing the Delafield Estates, Community Board 8 is working with the Delafield Estate Homeowners Association, Inc. to ward off another disaster. 

They have included a provision in the restoration plan of the luxury development, which requires the next developer to post a $500,000 performance bond, or 125 percent of the total restoration work, whichever is higher...

http://riverdalepress.com/stories/Pay-first-develop-estates-later,49793

Back in 1980, a plan to develop a wooded estate property in the Bronx seemed like a brilliant compromise for both environmentalists trying to preserve a natural area and real-estate interests looking to put up houses there....

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204554204577026090106230070.html

Major Joseph Delafield, president of the New York Lyceum of Natural History, purchased 257 acres in what was then still Westchester County in 1829.  Today, the area is in the section of the Bronx known as Riverdale. Delafield purchased the land as a country retreat where he could bring parties to hunt wild boar.  The hunting lodge originally on the property survives to this day. The property extended from Broadway to the Hudson River, with a manor house built in 1865. Rising costs, however, caused the Delafields to begin to search out other uses for the property....

http://bronxbackthen.blogspot.com/2011/11/delafield-estate-riverdale-on-hudson.html

Now on its fourth development attempt, the Delafield Estates in Riverdale could finally become what developers first envisioned for the 10.4-acre Bronx site back in 1980, the Wall Street Journal reported....

http://therealdeal.com/blog/2011/11/09/after-30-years-and-three-owners-delafield-estates-in-riverdale-may-finally-fulfill-original-plan-after-foreclosure-auction-marketed-by-brown-harris-stevens/

A group of local investors thought they had a perfect way to handle the requirements of Riverdale’s new “greenbelt” law when they announced their plans for the fabled Delafield estate and its stately mansion.

The developers intended to build 72 condominium units of trendy “cluster housing.” By creating closely grouped townhouses, they said, they could preserve the garden-like character of the site....

http://riverdalepress.com/stories/Greenbelt-gets-first-test-from-developer,36558?print=1

The CITY OF NEW YORK, Plaintiff-Appellant-Respondent, v. DELAFIELD 246 CORPORATION, Defendant-Respondent-Appellant, American Home Assurance Company, et al., Defendants.

Before ELLERIN, J.P., and WALLACH, WILLIAMS and MAZZARELLI, JJ.
Cheryl Payer, of counsel (Stephen J. McGrath and John Low-Beer, on the brief;  Paul A. Crotty, attorney), for plaintiff-appellant-respondent.David Jaroslawicz, of counsel (Robert J. Tolchin, on the brief;  Jaroslawicz & Jaros, attorneys), for defendant-respondent-appellant. ....

http://caselaw.findlaw.com/ny-supreme-court-appellate-division/1348484.html