MONTICELLO, N.Y. — EPR Properties (NYSE: EPR) has unveiled plans to develop Adelaar, a new $750 million resort planned for the Catskills, just outside Monticello. Adelaar — the Dutch word for eagle — would be built on 1,700 acres on the site of the former Concord Resort in Sullivan County, located about 95 miles north of New York City.
The ambitious plan includes a four-star hotel and casino with a spa, a retail component, entertainment hall and an 18-hole golf course. The resort would also include a 350-room, family-style lodge with an indoor waterpark, as well as an outdoor adventure park with zip lines, a snow tubing facility and mountain coaster.
“As a major Sullivan County landowner, we are very excited about the prospect of bringing the Adelaar vision to life,” says David Brain, president and CEO of Kansas City, Mo.-based EPR Properties. “This new world-class destination resort will deliver significant economic benefits for local businesses, create dependable local employment and have a positive impact on tourism in upstate New York.”
EPR Properties is teaming up with Empire Resorts Inc. (NASDAQ: NYNY), which currently operates the Monticello Casino and Raceway. Empire Resorts intends to apply for a license to own and operate a destination gaming resort that will include a four-star hotel.
All of the approvals and permits are in place for the team to begin construction on Adelaar immediately if Empire Resorts is awarded a destination gaming resort license, according to the company.
“We believe Adelaar is exactly the type of development envisioned by the Upstate New York Gaming Economic Development Act,” says Emanuel Pearlman, chairman of the board for Empire Resorts. “We are pleased that after three years of intense planning and preparation, our proposed casino and four-star hotel is already designed, and we can begin to build without delay, should we receive a destination resort license.”
Empire Resorts is vying for one of four state gaming licenses that will be granted in upstate New York after an amendment was passed last November allowing for the addition of Vegas-like casinos on non-tribal land. A maximum of two licenses may be granted in the Catskills.
The State Gaming Commission is expected to begin its call for applications by the end of this month. All applicants are required to submit a $1 million nonrefundable fee along with their proposals. Applicants must also prove that their team can move quickly on their project if a license is granted.
“With our SEQRA (State Environmental Quality Review Act), permitting and final site plan in place, Adelaar is well prepared to come to market quickly,” says Brain of EPR Properties.
The site selection committee for the State Gaming Commission is expected to announce the permit winners in the fourth quarter of 2014.
For the new indoor waterpark hotel and adventure park at Adelaar, EPR Properties is partnering with the same team that’s currently developing and operating its Camelback Mountain Resort in Tannersville, Penn.
The waterpark development team includes executives from Aquatic Development Group in New York; Camelback Mountain Resort in Pennsylvania; Wilderness Hotel and Golf Resort in Wisconsin; and Wilderness at the Smokies Tennessee. Golf architect Rees Jones has also been retained to oversee the renovation of the Monster Golf Course at Adelaar.
EPR Properties is a specialty REIT with more than $3.5 billion invested primarily in projects that involve entertainment, recreation and education. EPR’s stock price closed at $53.66 per share on Thursday, March 13, up from $49.75 per share a year ago.
Empire Resorts, based in Monticello, is a publicly traded gaming and entertainment company that owns and operates the Monticello Casino and Raceway through its Monticello Raceway Management subsidiary.
According to the company’s website, approximately 50 percent of Empire Resorts is owned by Kien Huat, an investment company beneficially owned by a family trust of which Lim Kok Thay of Malaysia and members of his family are beneficiaries.
The stock price of Empire Resorts closed at $6.55 per share on Thursday, up from $1.94 per share a year ago.