ELLENVILLE, NY-Closed since 2009 after multiple attempts torevive it, the Nevele Grand Hotel here may bereborn as a gaming resort. Nevele Investors LLC onThursday filed its $500-million redevelopment plan with the Town ofWawarsing, launching public review of the proposal and enabling theWawarsing Town Board to seek designation as lead agency inreviewing the plan through the New York State Environmental QualityReview.

“Nevele Investors believes that our proposed plan for the siteretains the historic elements of the Nevele that can be renovatedand improved while adding new features that will transform it intoa world-class, gaming destination,” says MichaelTreanor, CEO of Nevele Investors, in a release. “We’vebeen working closely with local and county officials to provide aneconomically beneficial project with broad bi-partisan support thatwill not only create thousands of direct and indirect jobs, butwill also be the catalyst for a revitalized eastern Catskillshistoric resort region.”

The plan filed with the Town of Wawarsing focuses on adaptivereuse of the 500-acre resort’s most familiar elements, includingthe tower building, ice rank and golf course, while adding threenow hotel buildings, a 150,000-square-foot casino, a40,000-square-foot convention facility and a seven-level parkinggarage replete with green roof. Provided the state approves gamingfor the resort—an approval that would have to wait until after aNovember 2013 statewide referendum to legalize non-tribalcasino gambling—operations could commence in 2014 andconstruction could wrap up by 2019.