Concord Project Restart Slated

You gotta give Louis Cappelli credit. In the midst of one of the worst commercial real estate financing environments in memory, he's forging ahead with the redevelopment of the Concord Resort. Like most large projects, the Concord has had trouble getting financing this year. So Cappelli approached the state to rework the financing and revenue deal he struck last year. On August 13th, Governor Patterson signed the revamped terms, and Cappelli has vowed to resume work on the project before Labor Day.

Lots of folks here have come to take Cappelli's promised start dates with a grain of salt. Cappelli first unveiled plans for the new Concord in 2000. Frankly, most of us expected to be able to have a drink at the bar at the new Concord well before now. And it may seem to many, driving along Route 42 past the Concord site, that nothing has been happening. But it has. The old towers have been demolished, and there's been a lot of infrastructure work at the site. There has also been a lot of behind the scenes activity with environmental approvals, site designs and financing. The Concord seems well ahead of the other two major Catskills resort projects on the boards — the proposed Belleayre Resort at the Catskill Park and the Aman Resort at Broadlands near Bovina — and my bet is that it will be the first of those three to welcome guests.

On a related note, it looks like casinos for Sullivan County may be back in the picture, and may be giving Louis Cappelli some motivation to get the Concord off the ground. As most casino watchers know, Dick Kempthorne, the Secretary of the Interior under Bush, was a foe of off reservation Indian casinos, and denied the tribal applications for off reservation casinos in Sullivan County in the waning months of the Bush Administration.

The Obama administration is a new game. The new Secretary of the Interior hasn't stated a position one way or another yet on off-reservation casinos. But in a move that may signal a shift in the political winds, Larry EchoHawk, the Department of the Interior's Assistant Secretary — Indian Affairs, plans to visit Sullivan County later this month at the invitation of our U.S. Congressperson, Maurice Hinchey, to visit proposed casino sites and discuss the impacts of casinos with local leaders. One tribe already has an application before the Dept. of the Interior, and two other tribes are expected to follow suit. While none of the proposals are for a casino at the Concord, if the applications move ahead and Cappelli has a shovel in the ground, I expect that one of the casinos will end up at the Concord.

Comments

[Charlie]

Regarding the mention of the other two Catskill resort projects, particularly the Belleayre Resort at the Catskill Park, it's interesting to me who in your view is considered a "welcome guest". A casino in Concord is one thing but building a mountain-top golf course/resort within a watershed preserve symbolizes everything that is misguided and wrong with Crossroad Ventures and politician's idea of economic revival.

[David Knudsen]

You misread what I wrote. I wasn't making any statement about which resort would be more welcome, but rather which would be the first to open, e.g. "The Concord ... will be the first of those three to welcome guests."

[Charlie]

Looks like I the one who put his foot in his mouth, my apologies, truly. I find your blog to be one of the most thoughtful and informative sites on the Catskill area, I myself am an avid reader along with a number of colleagues. I've been visiting the region for decades, I have friends and family throughout the area and recently have been considering buying a small piece of property/house. I know for a fact the reason for my knee-jerk response to your posting stemmed from a recent conversation; when discussing the area, the subject of the natural gas mining, wind turbines and casinos came up (all of which have there pros and cons), however when I was informed of the Belleayre Resort's plan to execute it's vision within the Catskill preserve my anger got the best of me, I had no idea the extent of Crossroad Venture's plan. After visiting the various web-sites (both the resort's and various organizations against it) I truly find that kind of unregulated development irresponsible. I read the building must be "invisible", amongst other requirements, but please spare me the political double-speak: golf-course run-off, traffic, razed mountain-tops, all within the watershed...is nowhere sacred?! In your blog, Mr. Knudsen I was curious if you could address these particular areas of concern and how development affects the Catskill region, I know your comments would be appreciated and many of us would be interested to hear what you have to say.

[Isaac]

has there been any new developments/updates on the progress of the hotel, casino or golf construction?