Ulster County IDA reports $89 million Marlborough resort and other projects, board readies member renewals

Hillary Nichols, executive director of the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency, told the county legislature’s Economic Development committee on Aug. 5 that the IDA approved the Marlborough Resort project, an $89,000,000 tourism development that the agency estimates will create about 125 jobs and was granted a 15-year PILOT (payment-in-lieu-of-taxes) inducement. Nichols said the IDA’s cost-benefit analysis for that project produced a benefit-to-cost ratio of 29-to-1 and that the applicant expects to close in the third quarter of 2025 to align with bank financing and to claim a mortgage recording tax exemption.

The IDA has also approved the Arizona Hudson Valley Project LLC, a roughly $36,000,000 redevelopment of the former Twin Lakes Resort in the Town of Hurley, which Nichols said is projected to yield about 24 full‑time jobs plus part‑time and seasonal positions; the agency reported a 26-to-1 local cost‑benefit ratio for that approval. Nichols said construction has started on projects that have completed the closing phase, and she cited the New Paltz Way Hotel — a $12,000,000 tourism project with an estimated nine full‑time equivalent jobs and a 16-to-1 benefit ratio — as one that is already induced and under construction.

Nichols described pending applications that have appeared publicly but not yet received board votes, including Chestnut Square Group LLC, a proposed $4,000,000 mixed‑use, 15‑unit housing project in the Village of New Paltz; she said the project’s public hearing was held there and that the board will review public comments at its August meeting before deciding whether to vote. She also explained that the Ulster County Capital Resource Corporation, a separate conduit entity that issues bonds for nonprofits, is processing an increased request from Woodland Pond to raise debt capacity from $25,000,000 to $33,000,000 following a two‑phase change in scope; that request also had a public hearing and is expected on the board agenda in August.

Nichols said the IDA and the CRC held an annual community engagement event June 5 at the Hudson House in West Park with roughly 100 attendees. She urged legislators to prepare for IDA board reappointments — all IDA board members serve two‑year terms with a holdover provision — and offered agency assistance to smooth the application and confirmation timeline ahead of the December term expirations.

Committee members asked for procedural clarifications. Nichols noted that, by law, IDA public hearings must occur in the municipality where the project is sited (a statutory public‑hearing location requirement) and that closings commonly align with lender timetables so projects can claim mortgage recording tax benefits. Legislator questions included requests for more detail about the Twin Lakes redevelopment’s scope; Nichols summarized the plan as demolition of a derelict main building, a reduced pool footprint to meet code, a spa conversion of a former motel strip, a pavilion event space and modular seasonal lodging units around the lake, and said the proposal also establishes a 33‑acre environmental easement on a portion of the site.

The IDA update emphasized that approved projects can be at different stages — approved but not closed, closed and induced with construction underway, or pending board review — and that the agency posts full project materials, public‑hearing notices and cost‑benefit analyses on its website. Nichols said the board anticipates two to three additional project applications before the end of 2025 and offered to assist the legislature with the board‑member appointment process early in the new year.

The committee received the presentation and asked staff to provide links to the IDA project files and to notify legislators when pending project hearings and board reviews are scheduled.