WINDHAM — A $27 million effort to renovate and reopen the former Thompson House Resort is set to bear fruit in July with the planned opening of the Wylder Windham hotel.
The resort developers appeared at the Greene County Legislature’s Economic and Development Committee meeting in the hopes that the county will approve a green energy financing program that encourages private lenders to make loans that will be used to make energy-related improvements to buildings.
The C-PACE program allows lenders to hold a lien on a given property that is superior to the terms of a lien held by a mortgage holder. The borrower will then repay the debt to the private lender through a special assessment process.
John Flannigan, founder of Wylder Hotels, appeared before the legislature via Zoom at the start of Monday’s meeting. He said the 110-room Wylder Windham resort is scheduled to open in July and the company is 80% done with its restoration of the property’s interior and exterior spaces.
“We love Greene County and we love Windham,” Flannigan told lawmakers. “We’re very appreciative to be able to speak to you about the C-PACE funding program that we believe is crucial for the county. I started Wylder Hotels six years ago to focus on community-based resorts to restore iconic properties and leisure destinations. We acquired the Thompson House last June and we took on the risk because we believe, and we believe more than ever right now, that it’s a very viable project that will benefit Greene County in a very positive and meaningful way.”
Alex Libin of Wylder Hotels subsequently spoke in person at the meeting, noting that Columbia, Ulster and Dutchess counties have all adopted the C-PACE (property assessed clean energy) funding program.
“The availability of C-PACE financing in these counties incentivizes private investment and just makes these counties that much more attractive for private investment,” he told lawmakers. “Speaking as a new Greene County business owner, if our county is going to compete for the best projects and the best talent, then I feel like we need to make every effort to support private investment. C-PACE is a private program and this is the private market at work.”
Libin said there are currently 15 private lenders across the state who are competing to lend money to interested borrowers at low rates.
The developer said that if the company is able to take advantage of $4 million in C-PACE funding that the county would receive 1.25% in revenue from the project, equaling $50,000. Libin said the Wylder Windham is projected to generate $58.8 million in revenue in its first five years of operation, which would generate more than $2 million in sales tax revenue for the county if the company meets those projections.
Libin said there would be no administrative burden on the county if the program is approved.
“It’s tough out there right now,” he said. “Our project is overbudget. Everything we thought is now going to cost more and everything we thought was going to be available took longer and was more expensive to get. You just have to fill up your gas tank to know how much things have gone up. But we’re committed to this project and committed to making it the best it can be for our partners, employees, Greene County and Windham.”
Later in the meeting, Greene County Legislator Michael Bulich, R-Catskill, introduced a resolution to move forward with a potential vote on the C-PACE program. Greene County Deputy Administrator Warren Hart said the county would prepare an introductory local law pertaining to the program. The timeline for a public hearing on the local law is expected to be detailed at the Legislature’s meeting Wednesday.
Bulich said Tuesday that he has questions about whether there could be backdoor public funding for the program.
“It just seems a little surprising to me that private lenders would allow themselves to become second creditors to the county,” he said. “But being no-risk to the county the way it’s structured right now, I did want to move that for these few gentlemen that have this hotel or other people too potentially. I don’t know if it will really apply to anybody else in the county, because I don’t see private lenders from the county, like the Bank of Greene County or the National Bank of Coxsackie, participating in this. But obviously these people have private lenders, and it may just be private money.”
Greene County Administrator Shaun Groden said following Monday’s meeting that the C-PACE program seems to make sense for the county because it doesn’t pose a financial risk for counties that adopt the initiative.
“We take a little haircut maybe on the mortgage tax,” Groden said. “But I think their (Wylder Hotels) point was that their ability to invest more because the rates are lower, therefore their business plan doesn’t get out of whack. He mentioned that they’re overbudget because of supply chain issues and commodity price increases with steel and those types of things are through the roof. So by them getting the reduced rate on the incentive for energy improvements, makes their bottom line better. That means they put more back into the building. So it’s a win-win.”