LEVERETT — Late Yankee Candle founder Michael J. Kittredge II’s sprawling 60-acre estate could be in line for a $200 million development, featuring 400 owner-occupied homes for people 55 and over, with one-quarter of these homes deemed affordable.

Revised plans for the site were recently presented in writing to the Select Board, nearly a year after a representative of the Juggler Meadow Estate outlined possible redevelopment concepts at a community forum that packed the Leverett Elementary School gym and drew more than 100 more attendees via Zoom.

A Nov. 1 memo from development manager Joshua Wallack, posted on the town website in response to an Aug. 15 letter from the Leverett Select Board appealing for more information, reveals that there are currently two possible plans for the site, which has been on the market for $23 million since the summer of 2022. The site is bounded by Amherst Road to the east, railroad tracks to the west and Juggler Meadow Road to the north, and extends into Amherst to the south.

The first plan would have 48 homes on the Leverett side and 352 homes in Amherst. By structuring the project in that way, the impact on Leverett would be limited, with the number of homes about 6% of the town’s current housing stock.

“This is what is allowable as a 40B,” Wallack writes, referencing the state’s Chapter 40B law that allows developers to skirt municipal zoning if a community doesn’t meet the minimum thresholds under the Massachusetts subsidized housing inventory, commonly thought of as the town’s percentage of affordable housing.

The second plan would have 150 homes in Leverett and 250 homes in Amherst.

In both plans, a quarter of the homes would be set aside for low- and moderate-income people.

The plans from Chris Ritter Design Studio of Brookline, following a completed site survey, are more refined than what was presented by Wallack in late 2023, when sketches showed a mix of 700 or more homes and apartments in a setting that would retain some of the estate’s luxury amenities.

Those amenities, which are sitting largely idle at a $1.5 million annual maintenance cost, according to Wallack, include a 55,000-square-foot spa building with a sauna, a steam room, locker rooms, massage rooms and a 4,000-square-foot gym and full kitchen, as well as an indoor tennis court and a 4,000-square-foot stage at one end, a video arcade with slots, pinball machines and carnival-style Skee-Ball, a three-lane bowling alley and billiards room, and an indoor water park with slides, waterfalls and palm trees.

Over the summer, Leverett officials suggested that the site could be submitted to the state’s 40B Local Initiative Program, which would give the town more ability to negotiate what the project will look like. The development team has applied to MassHousing for support of affordable homeownership opportunities.

Wallack said Monday that once a project eligibility letter is received from MassHousing, the developer intends to file plans with both Leverett and Amherst, after having ongoing conversations with staff in both communities.

“We came up with a 55-plus, age restricted active adult community that centers on the amenities already built,” Wallack said,

There would also be new additions considered for the communities, including a small cafe, a general store and a barbershop and hair salon, which could limit how frequently people would need to travel off site.

The plans also retain significant green space and trails, Wallack said.

“We don’t want that site to not be taken advantage of,” Wallack said.

A major benefit for both communities could be people who move to the community and downsize, opening up homes in both towns to more younger families, reducing the pressure on the housing stock and ensuring a growth in school-age children.

In a letter to Wallack, the Leverett Select Board asked for a business plan, financial backers and his credentials, all necessary to take additional steps to respond to the development.

“At this time, we have limited information in writing,” wrote board Chairman Thomas Hankinson and members Patricia Duffy and Jed Proujansky. “Without the requested details, it will be challenging for us to engage the town in a meaningful discussion about the project.”

In the previous presentation, there had been discussion about the likely need for Amherst to extend a sewer connection about 1½ miles, and possibly also water lines to the development site, and questions about whether the rural roads could handle the additional traffic. Wallack said the utility extensions are part of the cost of the project.

The development team, working on behalf of Michael “Mick” Kittredge, Michael Kittredge’s son, who founded Kringle Candle in Bernardston. includes SEB Housing of Needham as the 40B consultant, Callahan Construction of Bridgewater, Kittredge Industries Chief Financial Officer Paul Stavropulos, Amherst attorney Tom Reidy, Concord attorney Mark Bobrowski and Chris Ritter Design. “Our team has world class 40B and land-use expertise,” Wallack writes.

Other details included in the letter are that Kittredge owns the site with no mortgage, and there is no likelihood of running short of money in advance of the issuing of a comprehensive permit.

Over the summer, the Select Board discussed the project extensively, including that the developer would likely enter the 40B Local Initiative Program, which allows the town to negotiate what the project might look like and get technical expertise from the state.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.