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For $26.5 million, You Can Own a Catskills Resort; the 432 room
 Nevele Grande Resort and Country Club Up for Sale

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."

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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.

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