The ownership group behind the restaurant Silvia is preparing to open two new businesses on Mill Hill Road in Woodstock, taking over the property formerly occupied by Gemela.
The larger building on the site will be called The Penny Tavern, while the smaller building will be called The Penny Cafe, according to Silvia co-owner Craig Leonard. The two businesses are scheduled to open May 1.
At the same time, Leonard has secured approval to build a two-and-a-half-story, 17-room hotel on the former gas station site next door at 39 Mill Hill Road, a project approved by the Woodstock Planning Board in January.
Together, the moves signal a reshaping of a prominent stretch of Mill Hill Road, where restaurant, retail, and hospitality businesses help anchor Woodstock’s tourism economy.
Leonard said he is bringing the new ventures to the site with his three partners in Silvia: his wife, Betty Choi, her sister, Doris Choi, and Doris Choi’s husband, Niall Grant.
“All four of us are excited about it,” Leonard said. “And hopefully we’re going to make it something fab.”
Leonard and his partners opened Silvia in 2017. In 2021, they opened Good Night, a Southeast Asian restaurant on Rock City Road.
Leonard had operated Gemela on the property with a partner under a lease with the Ballinger family, which owns the site and has put it up for sale for $4 million.
At the former Gemela property, formerly the Mud Club and Early Terrible, Leonard said The Penny Cafe will operate from the smaller building and sell grab-and-go items, including some of Silvia’s popular offerings, though he did not specify which ones. The Penny Tavern, in the larger building, will serve lunch from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will also open for dinner and bar service, with a menu distinct from Silvia’s main restaurant.
The hotel project, approved by the Planning Board Jan. 15, calls for a 17-room building on the former gas station site at 39 Mill Hill Road. During the public hearing, neighboring residents raised concerns about privacy, traffic on nearby Mowers Lane, and the building’s height. According to meeting minutes, the applicant said the upper floor would contain only two rooms and that screening and tree plantings would help maintain privacy. The board approved the application, and the applicants said they hoped to begin construction in the spring.
Nearby business owners said they welcomed the changes.
Betsy Mitchell, who owns the restaurant and bar Pearl Moon with her husband, Scott, said the new businesses and approved hotel could bring more visitors into Woodstock’s commercial core.
“We wish them luck,” Mitchell said.
The projects also arrive at a moment of broader change in Woodstock’s commercial real estate market.
The Woodstock Pub, a short walk up Mill Hill Road from the property, remains listed for sale at $1.8 million. Bearsville Center, home to the Bearsville Theater, is on the market for $8 million.
Its owner, Lizzie Vann, has said she put the historic property up for sale to focus on two Tinker Street parcels she purchased: the Lasher Funeral Home site and the former Woodstock Library building. Vann’s Project Regeneration aims to convert six buildings at 100 and 106 Tinker Street and 5 Library Lane into at least 12 green, low-cost apartments, a business-incubator coworking hub, rooms for medical and wellness practitioners, and an expanded public park.
The library’s move to Dixon Avenue, outside the center of town, has also helped create a new destination between Woodstock and Bearsville.
John W. Barry is a reporter for The Overlook. Reach him at john@theoverlooknews.com.