Concord Project Will Break Ground Soon

Phase I calls for the construction of a lodge/hotel spa that would have between 125 to 200 rooms and would feature a 20,000-sf spa and restaurant to be built across from the Monster Golf Course clubhouse. The first phase would also include the demolition of the clubhouse and the construction of a new 63,000-sf clubhouse facility in its place. Town officials say the first phase is expected to cost approximately $70 million to develop.

It was six years ago this October, amidst a great deal of fanfare, that Cappelli, president of Cappelli Enterprises and principal of Concord Associates LP, the owner of the Concord property, staged a ground-breaking ceremony for the project. After some initial site work, construction stopped on the project shortly thereafter as the push for Native American casinos in the Catskills took hold and various proposals, including one at the Concord site, were pushed for by political, Native American, business and labor interests in the region. Cappelli and Concord Associates had a deal last year to sell the property to Empire Resorts Inc., the owner of the Monticello Raceway property, but that deal was never finalized as Gov. George Pataki's push for five Native American casinos in the Catskills failed.

The new push for the Concord redevelopment appears to have been inspired in part by the prodding of local officials. Town of Thompson supervisor Anthony Cellini, while saying he is pleased that the project is moving forward, admits that town officials had grown quite impatient with the lack of progress with the Concord redevelopment earlier this year. "I got a hold of him [Louis Cappelli] in January saying we'll demolish the unsafe existing eyesores that are presently there if you don't do something. That got his attention."

Since then, Concord Associates and the town began work on a plan to change the property's zoning to a new Planned Resort Development Zone that had originally been discussed back in 2003. Future phases of the project call for the already-approved modernization and rehabilitation of the former Concord Hotel into a 1,500-room hotel that will have 210,000 sf of convention center and casino space.

Other facets call for approximately 200,000 sf of additional convention center space; nearly 3,000 residential units including year-round and seasonal multifamily and single-family housing; a total of 625,000 sf retail space and up to 110,000 sf of support and meeting space.

The site also includes the Monster and International golf courses. Concord Associates says that more than 35% of the site--more than 600 acres--would be preserved as open space.