Belleayre Resort Update at June 20 Chamber Breakfast
June 06, 2017
Ken Pasternak, the man in charge of the $400-million Belleayre Resort at Catskill Park will address the Ulster Chamber’s monthly breakfast meeting on June 20. The breakfast is scheduled for 7:30-9 a.m. at the Best Western Plus in Kingston. The sponsor is SUNY Ulster.
The Belleayre Resort has been almost 20 years in the making. Pasternak, a world-class developer, said he wanted to “introduce myself to the community and give an update on the resort” at the breakfast. He grew up in Delaware County, graduated from SUNY New Paltz before making millions in the financial world.
Pasternak said his breakfast remarks would be threefold: the remaining approval process, the state’s commitment to the neighboring Belleayre Mountain Ski Center and the remaining steps before ground can be broken.
The Catskill Heritage Alliance recently filed suit to reduce the size of the resort. “We’re confident the appeals are not substantive and we’ll deal with them in short order,” Pasternak said.
Pasternak said the state has committed $75 million to upgrade the Belleayre Mountain Ski Center under a Unit Management Plan (UMP), but that amount remains largely unfunded. “You can’t have a first-class resort without a first-class ski center,” he said. The latest state budget does include $8 million for a four-season gondola.
The resort plan calls for two hotels, the Highmount Spa Resort and Wildacres Hotel. Highmount would feature 120 hotel units, 96 other lodging units, a world-class spa and food and beverage facilities.
Wildacres Hotel would include 208 hotel units, 163 other lodging units, a conference center, food and beverage facilities and a Wilderness Activities Center. The hotel would also feature an 18-hole championship golf course designed by Davis Love III.
The project would also come with a host of economic benefits, including several hundred construction jobs while pumping $112 million into the local economy. Once completed, the resort would create 540 full-time jobs and 230 part-time positions. The resort would also mean $3.7 million in annual property taxes to local municipalities and school districts; $24.85 million in annual wages; $10.6 million a year off-site spending by resort patrons; and $168 million a year in regional economic benefits.
Pasternak would offer no timeline as far as groundbreaking. “I know the hurdles. I’m in the real estate business but I can’t tell you what the timeline will be,” he said.
“I’m going to try to energize the stakeholders to know what the hurdles in front of us are and to help us solve them. I know what the hurdles are. I’m a problem solver,” he said.
Chamber breakfast programs are a great way to network with other local business leaders and stay on top of current events. Pre-registration is strongly encouraged. For more information or to register, call the Chamber at (845) 338-5100 or go online at www.ulsterchamber.org.
The Belleayre Resort has been almost 20 years in the making. Pasternak, a world-class developer, said he wanted to “introduce myself to the community and give an update on the resort” at the breakfast. He grew up in Delaware County, graduated from SUNY New Paltz before making millions in the financial world.
Pasternak said his breakfast remarks would be threefold: the remaining approval process, the state’s commitment to the neighboring Belleayre Mountain Ski Center and the remaining steps before ground can be broken.
The Catskill Heritage Alliance recently filed suit to reduce the size of the resort. “We’re confident the appeals are not substantive and we’ll deal with them in short order,” Pasternak said.
Pasternak said the state has committed $75 million to upgrade the Belleayre Mountain Ski Center under a Unit Management Plan (UMP), but that amount remains largely unfunded. “You can’t have a first-class resort without a first-class ski center,” he said. The latest state budget does include $8 million for a four-season gondola.
The resort plan calls for two hotels, the Highmount Spa Resort and Wildacres Hotel. Highmount would feature 120 hotel units, 96 other lodging units, a world-class spa and food and beverage facilities.
Wildacres Hotel would include 208 hotel units, 163 other lodging units, a conference center, food and beverage facilities and a Wilderness Activities Center. The hotel would also feature an 18-hole championship golf course designed by Davis Love III.
The project would also come with a host of economic benefits, including several hundred construction jobs while pumping $112 million into the local economy. Once completed, the resort would create 540 full-time jobs and 230 part-time positions. The resort would also mean $3.7 million in annual property taxes to local municipalities and school districts; $24.85 million in annual wages; $10.6 million a year off-site spending by resort patrons; and $168 million a year in regional economic benefits.
Pasternak would offer no timeline as far as groundbreaking. “I know the hurdles. I’m in the real estate business but I can’t tell you what the timeline will be,” he said.
“I’m going to try to energize the stakeholders to know what the hurdles in front of us are and to help us solve them. I know what the hurdles are. I’m a problem solver,” he said.
Chamber breakfast programs are a great way to network with other local business leaders and stay on top of current events. Pre-registration is strongly encouraged. For more information or to register, call the Chamber at (845) 338-5100 or go online at www.ulsterchamber.org.
Contact:
Ward Todd, President/CEO
ward@ulsterchamber.org, (845) 338-5100
