|
By Andrew Hickey, Ulster County Press,
Stone Ridge, N.Y.McClatchy-Tribune Regional News
Mar. 27, 2008 - --For Sale: One slightly used resort. Low
occupancy, high profit. Some wear and tear. Historic structure with
many renovations over the last several years. Carries with it the rich
heritage of the golden era of Catskill resorts. Enormous potential for
the right owner. Asking price: $26.5 million. Contact Eastern
Consolidated, New York City. Serious inquiries only. That's about as much information that is being released about
the Nevele Grande Resort and Country
Club being placed on the market recently. Calls to the Nevele
Resort General Manager, Paul Kraft, to confirm that the Ellenville
resort is for sale, were not returned. Peter Carillo, a director
working on the sale for New York City real estate heavy Eastern
Consolidated, refused to comment on the Nevele. Ellenville Village Manager Eliot Auerbach said that the Nevele
was on the market and that it has been a few times over the past
several years. Historically, he said, Nevele brass has been
tight-lipped on the market status of the hotel. "It comes as no
surprise that the Nevele is for sale," he said. "This is not the first
time it's been on the market." Eastern Consolidated, which claims to be the largest
single-office commercial real estate investment services firm in the
U.S., stated in a March 18 press release that the current owners of the
Nevele have set the asking price at $26.5 million for the 433-room
resort that was built in the early 1900s and sits on 487 acres along
Route 209 in Ellenville. GlobeSt.com, a real estate news site, reported recently that
the current owners of the resort made some upgrades over their nine
years of ownership, but more work will likely be required, according to
Carillo. And, the report noted, despite an anemic 28 percent occupancy
rate, the Nevele managed a net profit of $2.5 million per year. "An
iconic property that in its heyday represented the height of luxury in
the Catskills, acquiring the Nevele is a rare opportunity to upgrade an
Ulster County landmark situated among the majestic Shawangunk
Mountains," Carillo told GlobeSt.com, "to bring it back to its original
pristine grandeur." Ulster County Development Corporation President Lance Matteson
said that his agency hasn't been involved with the property, preferring
to focus on sectors like the technology industry, which are more likely
to spawn higher-paying, more valuable jobs. The only connection,
though, is that the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency holds
title to the Nevele property, having brokered a
payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) arrangement between the Nevele and the
county. In those cases, the IDA, as a non profit entity, holds title
to the property, effectively leasing it to the Nevele until the resort
owners satisfy the PILOT agreement. Then, the IDA conveys title to the
Nevele for $1. According to Eastern Consolidated, the resort's facilities
include three full-service kitchens (one is Glatt Kosher); dining
rooms; meeting rooms; nightclubs; lounges; indoor and outdoor swimming
pools; diving pool; kiddie pool; indoor and outdoor tennis courts;
racquetball/basketball courts; handball courts; a fitness center;
an18-hole championship golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones and
Tom Fazio; two lakes; horseback riding trails; a skating rink; a game
room for children; and snow skiing and tubing facilities. A look at the history of the Nevele reveals a somewhat rocky recent past, including persistent rumors of sale and a widely reported $20 million lawsuit filed against the resort by a woman who claimed she was attacked by bedbugs in 2006. So vehement are some former guests in their distaste for the Nevele, a Web site called www.nevelesucks.com was launched and features t-shirts for sale with the slogan, "I survived the Nevele." ----- To see more of Ulster County Press or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://trafficcircle.ulstercountypress.com/. Copyright (c) 2008, Ulster County Press, Stone Ridge, N.Y. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |
|