The property, which runs east to west between routes 9 and 9G, was once owned by FDR, and it includes the historic carriage road used by the president to travel between his home, Springwood, and Eleanor Roosevelt's retreat, Val-kill. The site is a heavily wooded mix of former fields, rocky ledge outcroppings, hardwood forest, plantations of trees planted by FDR himself, and significant wetland areas.

The property is vitally important to the work of the Bellefield Group, an ongoing collaboration between the town, the National Park Service (NPS), Scenic Hudson, the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, local business and community leaders, the Hudson Valley Greenway, and other stakeholders. The town, NPS and Scenic Hudson, in partnership with the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area and with the support and assistance of U.S. Rep. John E. Sweeney, have been awarded a total of $2.4 million through the federal "T-21" transportation enhancement program for site selection, planning design and construction of a new "regional heritage area center."

The center will be designed to attract tourists from a larger geographic area and improve amenities for visitors. The project is expected to include a mix of tourist-related commercial activities and public recreational uses, such as bicycle and pedestrian trails. It will provide tourism information, centralize parking and offer alternatively fueled shuttle services to support one of the most concentrated National Landmark districts in the nation. Many have expressed interest that the Hyde Park Drive-in Theatre, which Scenic Hudson owns and continues to operate, be incorporated in the final plan.

Together with the new Henry A. Wallace Visitor and Education Center at the Roosevelt Home and Presidential Library, Hyde Park is increasingly well positioned to benefit both economically and in terms of quality of life of its residents.