ELLENVILLE – Though last week brought news that the Nevele Grande Resort was under contract to be sold to Rafi Weiss's Tricon Development, the next few weeks will reveal whether or not the sale actually closes. To that end, Lance Matteson, president of the Ulster County Development Corporation, is tasked with bringing incentives to the negotiating table to ensure that new life is brought to the Nevele.

"[We] are doing everything we can to make something happen at the Nevele," said Matteson. "We all have that as a very high priority. And what your readers can rest assured of is that we are being as aggressive as we possibly can to make something happen there, and we are doing everything we can to work with this buyer in that spirit."

Matteson listed a few different incentives that the county is going to be throwing Weiss's way in order to make the investment in the Nevele as attractive as possible. One such incentive is a temporary reduction or exemption of taxes that would be incurred on the property's increased value. Basically, as the property is restored and revitalized, its assessed value will go up — this temporary tax break would help keep the owner's taxes at a lower level to allow more funding to go toward restoring the property and business.

"That could be considerable benefit for the early stages especially for a major redevelopment project, which we understand this would be," said Matteson.

"It's just based on the increased value so that the town would still get, at a minimum, the same amount of property tax collection that it had been getting," added UCDC's Director of Business Development and Marketing Paul Rakoff.

Furthermore, Tricon can even reap breaks on taxes associated with rebuilding and construction. Weiss said that he would be upgrading the property's infrastructure, including water, sewer, and electric. Matteson said that UCDC can provide a tax exemption on all such associated building materials, as well as new furnishings for the hotel.

Matteson also said that UCDC could provide mortgage tax relief, and can also work with the state to provide other incentives.

Of course, there are still hurdles to clear before the sale can be completed. There's currently a lawsuit in Ulster County filed by Mitchell Wolff, current Nevele-owner Joel Hoffman's former business partner. New Jersey-resident Wolff is seeking satisfaction on a $2 million judgment he won in his home state against Hoffman in 2009. According to Ulster County court filings, Wolff has yet to be paid or satisfied on the judgment, leading to the lawsuit and Request for Judicial Intervention, or RJI, being filed in New York, where Hoffman and the Nevele (the corporation of which was also named in the suit) reside.

"It's something that has to be addressed, certainly, just as all the outstanding liens and debts on the property have to be addressed," said Matteson of the lawsuit. "We have been told that it will be," by Rafi Weiss, he added.

"We recognize that this is a huge opportunity for the people of Ellenville and the region. With anybody who comes forward, we're going to proceed with cautious optimism, because we know that the end result that we're hearing is going to bring good jobs back to Ellenville," said Paul Rakoff. "However, with that being said, the burden is upon us and everybody involved in this project to do our due diligence to make sure that we're helping to bring the right buyer and the right management organization to the Nevele so that it comes back and is there for a long time."