Hotel developer seeks tax deal

By Jonathan Ment, Freeman staff Daily Freeman January 26, 2006

TOWN OF ULSTER - The developer of a Hampton Inn hotel proposed for a site adjacent to the Hannaford supermarket on Ulster Avenue made a pitch Wednesday for financial assistance through the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency.
The agency board, whose makeup will change dramatically next month with five new appointees by the county Legislature's new Democratic majority, unanimously agreed to set a public hearing on the hotel project pending further review. It also approved Kingston Mayor James Sottile's request for financial support of the Empire Zone program and gave final approval to Shandaken Associates to rebuild the Emerson Inn and Spa.
The proposed 49,600-square-foot Hampton Inn at 1249 Ulster Ave., to be operated by Kingston Hospitality Inc., would have 81 rooms and employ 29 full-time and two part-time workers.
Developer Jay Modhwadiya, who operates a Travel Inn in New Windsor and another hotel in Newburgh, said the Hampton would be a "mid-scale" hotel with a small meeting facility and a large lounge.
Peter Gallagher, director of business development for the Ulster County Development Corp., said the project would carry a $6.4 million mortgage. The owners would, through agency participation, reap estimated tax savings of more than $1.2 million over 10 years, including $47,800 in mortgage recording taxes, $211,500 in sales taxes, and $948,456 in real property taxes through a 10-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement.
In other business Wednesday:
* Gallagher said no comments were received at a public hearing on the proposed new Emerson Inn and Spa, which will be across state Route 28 in Mount Tremper from the site of former Emerson, which burned down last spring.
The developers are not seeking a property tax abatement, according to agency counsel.
* Ulster County Legislator Hector Rodriguez, D-New Paltz, introduced five board nominees who are expected to be appointed by the Legislature on Feb. 8.
They are: Legislator Michael Berardi, D-Ulster, formerly of Berardi Fuel Oil; Jen Fuentes of Kingston, who with the Hudson Valley Area Labor Federation appeared before the agency in 2005 in pursuit of a labor policy; March Gallagher of Saugerties, an attorney in private practice; Blair Goodman of Woodstock, who runs a Sylvan Learning Center in Wappingers Falls and formerly in the town of Ulster; and Ellenville Village Manager Elliott Auerbach.
Rodriguez, who chairs the Legislature's committee for economic development, housing, planning and transit, said he's been told the Republican minority will reappoint Gene Gruner and Al Ford, who has served as chairman of the agency since its formation.
* Chester Straub, executive director of the Ulster County Development Corp., which was reappointed as the IDA's administrative agency, updated the board on the proposed water park at the Hudson Valley Resort and Spa in Kerhonkson.
Straub said survey and title issues that had delayed final bank commitments have been cleared up.
"We expect that will be back on track and moving toward a closing in the next month or two," he said.
Straub said an anonymous communication was received by his office concerning one of the participants in the project and a investigation was under way.
* The agency pledged $10,000 annually for two years for administrative support of the Kingston-Ulster Empire Zone, a fraction of the total requested by Sottile.
Steve Finkle, the city's director of economic and community development, said he was hoping never to have to come to an outside agency to ask for help.
"Our budget is bare bones," he said of the Empire Zone program. "There's really no fluff in it at all."
Finkle requested $150,000 for infrastructure work at the Kingston Business Park.
He said two manufacturing companies are considering locating in the park off Delaware Avenue. One he categorized as "serious;" the other is also considering sites in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, he said.
The board agreed to review the request, pending further information.
* Board members were told they may be asked to approve a refinancing plan for the Northeast Center for Special Care when they meet Feb. 22

.©Daily Freeman 2006

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