Lodge’s co-owner says project to add around 140 jobs
NEW PALTZ, N.Y. » At a community presentation Tuesday evening, plans were unveiled for Wildberry Lodge, which the co-owner described as a hybrid of “a Napa-style destination meets New Paltz in the greater Hudson region.”
Steve Turk, co-owner and operator of the Turk Hospitality Group, said he has high hopes for what the project — a large complex featuring a full-service spa and a studio for yoga and meditation — could do for the village of New Paltz.
“I think it will be an asset for the area’s economy, bringing at least 130 to 140 jobs,” Turk said. “It will send tourists coming in to the village, business district, restaurants, orchards and galleries.”
Turk Hospitality Group has asked the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency to approve $11.2 million in tax relief.
The overall project, expected to cost $42 million, is proposed to include a 140room “boutique hotel” with amenities on 58 acres at state Route 299 and South Ohioville Road.
The lodge is expected to create up to 145 full-time jobs when it opens.
In addition to the spa and studio, the Wildberry Lodge will come with a fitness center, two large event facilities, an on-site restaurant and a butterfly conservatory.
The idea for the lodge came up after meeting with New Paltz residents and municipal leadership to figure out their desires for a future resort. A design firm from Seattle, Wash., then met with the Turk family to come up with a plan using ideas posed from the meetings.
Turk said “the Wildberry Lodge project will not only enhance tourism, but it will also serve as an artistic, educational and environmental landmark.”
Michael O’Donnell, president of the New Paltz Board of Education, expressed some skepticism, saying he wants to see how the project would affect the district budget.
“I’m here mainly to see the numbers for the (payment-in-lieu-of-taxes proposal) to see how it will affect the school budget and voting,” O’Donnell said. “I want to see whether or not this will be beneficial or detrimental to taxpayers.”
As SUNY New Paltz alumni and natives of New Paltz, Turk and his wife and co-owner, Shelley, say they maintain a strong sense of enthusiasm for the community.
“Shelley and I were born in this community,” he said. “We both understand what the right thing to do means for our community.”
The developer will hold a second community forum Tuesday, May 29, 2018, at 5:30 p.m. at the Hampton Inn, 4 South Putt Corners Road.
The Turk Hospitality Group has maintained a presence in the Hudson Valley for decades. The business currently owns and operates the Rocking Horse Ranch Resort in Plattekill, which will celebrate its 60th anniversary this Memorial Day weekend, and SplashDown Beach Waterpark in Fishkill, which was acquired in 2004.