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Democrat Photo by John Emerson
LOOKING IT OVER: Louis Cappelli, right, speaks with an unidentified man during Wednesday’s State of the County speech at the government center in Monticello. Cappelli brought his $500 million plans for the Concord Resort Hotel with him to display at the meeting (seen in back) – and they proved to be the focus of much discussion.
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Concord Plans Officially Revealed
By John Emerson
MONTICELLO — March 17, 2000 -- A spanking new 1,100-room hotel and convention facility, 60,000 square feet of exhibit space, renovated golf courses lined on one side with timeshare villas and condominiums are all part of the dreams of developer Louis Cappelli.
Cappelli presented those dreams and more to county legislators Wednesday when he unveiled his complete plans for restoring the Concord Resort Hotel in Kiamesha Lake to its former glory as one of the premier vacation destinations in the Northeast. In a news release, he said one of the keys to the project was to “not limit its use to the warm weather months.”
As the chief figure in Concord Associates LP, the joint venture firm that owns the once-famous hotel property, Cappelli has demonstrated he has access to the $500 million he says he plans to invest in renovating the hotel and its grounds.
“We believe he has the ability, and we welcome him to Sullivan County,” said Sullivan County Legislature Chairman Rusty Pomeroy. “The investment will reach hundreds of millions of dollars and will create hundreds of new jobs, both construction and permanent.”
County officials hope, with the announcement of Cappelli’s plans for the hotel, a dark chapter in the county’s history regarding the Concord is finally laid to rest. The county has spent the last several years battling in court as it attempted to recover more than $7 million in past due property taxes.
In addition to the new hotel and golf course improvements (as first detailed in an exclusive Democrat article last week), Cappelli’s plans for the property call for the development of several new amenities. On one section of the total 1,600 acres Cappelli hopes to obtain, the plans call for a ranch spa with an equestrian center, both indoor and outdoor riding rings and a smaller on-site hotel.
Just outside the entrance to the main hotel, Cappelli wants to build a 100,000-square-foot retail center with shops, restaurants, a theater complex, clubs and other attractions open to both hotel and non-hotel guests. An Alpine Village and Wilderness Village are also included in the plans presented Wednesday night, following Pomeroy’s State of the County speech.
Thompson Supervisor Tony Cellini said the town planning board and representatives of Concord Associates LP would be meeting soon to begin going over the site plans and other details related to approvals for the project.
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