By Dan Hust
SOUTH FALLSBURG — The former Fallsburg Central School has finally been sold.
After gaining ownership of what was once home to both the school and Sullivan County Community College, the Town of Fallsburg has sold the two-story building for $100,000.
The town purchased the Laurel Avenue structure in South Fallsburg eight years ago for a future town hall, but concerns over renovations costs led officials to put it back on the market.
Plaza Management and principal Jacob Bernat put in an offer, and a deal was struck two weeks ago.
Now, said Bernat’s attorney Jay Zeiger, Plaza Management will seek to begin renovations next year to turn the 10,000-square-foot school into a medical office complex.
Called the Fallsburg Town Center, much of it is expected to be occupied by Refuah Health Center, he said, a Rockland County-based healthcare organization with offices in Spring Valley and Youngsville and a mobile facility serving Sullivan County.
The rest will be open for medical or non-medical offices, for which Zeiger said the developer already has planning board approval.
“We weren’t just going to sell it to anybody,” added Fallsburg Town Supervisor Steve Levine, who had long wanted to get the building on the tax rolls.
They will, however, get tax breaks in the form of sales tax abatements on the estimated $900,000 they seek to spend on materials to renovate the building, according to Sullivan County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) Executive Director Jennifer Brylinski.
A 15-year declining abatement is in place for property taxes as well, she said, including a 100 percent abatement on new taxes resulting from any increase in the property’s assessed value.