WPCNR THE DEVELOPER NEWS. By John F. Bailey. February 13, 2008: Louis Cappelli, builder of the Ritz-Carlton Westchester has reached an agreement with Empire Resorts  to build a $700 Million  harness racing track, resort hotel/casino golf club  and convention center  on the grounds of the historic Concord hotel in Sullivan County. Cappelli told WPCNR he hopes to bring his friend Donald Trump in as a partner on the project.   Mr. Cappelli sold the Concord property to Empire Resorts in exchange for Empire Resorts stock in November,  2004. Zoning approvals and final site plan have already been approved, according to Empire Resorts.

The Concord Resort and Golf Club from Satellite: Louis Cappelli, "The Super Developer"  (below) announced plans to build with Empire Resorts a racetrack, resort hotel and convention center, and golf club on the historic Concord property Monday.  He still loves White Plains though. Photo (c) by Google, used with permission.

Louis Cappelli,  with Mayor Joseph Delfino of White Plains on the Ritz-Carlton Opening Night, December 16, 2007. The Super Developer plans to build a world-class resort/casino/racetrack on the Concord Country Club Resort in Sullivan County

In addition to the new 5/8 of a mile racetrack to be created beside the new hotel,  the 1,500 slot-machine attraction at the “Racino” currently housed at the Monticello Raceway will he moved into the  new hotel creating the first step towards a real resort casino in the region.  Empire Resorts reported the agreement in a news release Monday that the agreement is contingent on approvals and closing conditions and that construction is expected to begin later this year.  The release remarked that zoning and final site plan approvals have already been obtained, and they expect to open the facility in 2010. For the official  news release, go to  http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=111350&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1106743&highlight=

A Closer Look at present Concord Resort Compound.

 Photo (c) by Google, used with permission.

The new resort-raceway and golf course will include a 100,000 square foot gaming area located within the hotel,  that will also feature a convention center, a golf course, retail and restaurants. The Super Developer spoke to WPCNR about it Tuesday afternoon: “We’re moving the harness track from the Monticello Raceway 2.5 miles away to the Concord Hotel site, and the gambling terminals with it, eventually it will be a resort hotel.”

Capelli said he was thinking of partnering with Donald Trump on the $700 Million project: “Donald and I have been talking about it. I’d love to bring Donald in and be a partner and get the beautiful Trump name on to it. We’ll have nice amenities, a water park, a nice hotel.”

Cappelli said he would demolish the present hotel building, and was eager to get started: “I got my financing in place for $350 to $400 Million in place from my same bank group. We’re having good conversations about that. I’m not worried about my financing being in place. I don’t know what’s going to hold it up. I’m eager to get started. Interest rates are low. All sorts of commodities have come down like sheetrock and materials used in the jobs because the residential market has shut down. So all of those factories producing sheetrock, carpet and stuff they use in homes,  the prices have declined tremendously. Now is the time to build, Mr. Bailey. Now is the time to build. If you believe there’s light at the end of the tunnel in two years and the economy’s going to be great, you take that leap of faith. Do you have it?”

Cappelli said he was not expecting the Mohawk Indian Tribe that had had a deal previously with Empire Resorts to build a casino at the present Monticello Raceway to create legal problems that could halt the project.  

White Plains and The Super Developer: Louis Cappelli at City Hall, May, 2007

WPCNR asked if the Concord deal meant that he was no longer interested in developing in White Plains:

Mr. Cappelli said “I’m signing up another project tomorrow, Louis Cappelli’s company loves being in White Plains, Louis Cappelli’s company is moving its headquarters in about six weeks or so to the City of White Plains, and I now have an apartment that I live in a few days a week with my wife in the City of White Plains, so I think its pretty clear my headquarters being there, my home being there, that my parents live there and my sister lives there, that the Cappelli family loves White Plains.

Regardless of love of white Plains, I think that the White Plains City Council wants a breather. White Plains wants to sit back and relax for awhile.  While everybody’s sitting back and relaxing, the world goes on, and other municipalities are eager to get done what White Plains admirably has gotten done. There’s nothing more or less than that. I’m disappointed. But, life goes on.”

The 240 Main Street Impasse -- Some Unfinished Business: The proposed 240 Main Street Affordable Housing Building at a standstill.

Last week it came to light that the City of White Plains has advised Cappelli that the 240 Main Street affordable housing project Mr. Cappelli was poised to build, now qualified as a high rise because it was 12 stories, according to White Plains Building Code. As a result, Mr. Cappelli, informed of this has suspended plans to build because of the expense of installing high rise fire protections, such as purge systems required by the state making it cost prohibitive for him to build the project.

I asked Mr. Cappelli if White Plains allowed him to build the currently stalled 240 Main Street “affordable housing” building to 50 stories, making it profitable for him to build, Cappelli said,

“I’m glad you brought that up. I saw an editorial today in the newspaper. The editorial was a bit misinformed. It is not that I do not want to build affordable housing at 240 Main Street because of the high rise interpretation. I cannot build anything at 240 Main Street, because the (city) interpretation of high rise has added such costs to a 74-foot building that it is cost-prohibitive to build anything there, market-rate or affordable.”

"The misunderstanding is this is not something that’s holding up the affordable, it’s holding up the building.

"Here’s the point, Louis Cappelli would never ever compromise safety. That’s like motherhood and apple pie, except that the White Plains Building Code has a conflict. The conflict is that they are following the New York State Building Code as it relates to structures under 75 feet. New York State says that’s not a high rise,  there’s a reason, there’s a travel distance that firemen can get up, hooks and ladders from a fire truck can get up and there’s a reason it’s 75 feet.

"How many stories are inside of that cube that goes up 75 is immaterial to it requiring generators and smoke purge and things. It’s silly because if it’s one story inside the building under 75 feet, if there’s 6 stories inside the building 75 feet, if there’s 7 stories or 8 stories and to exaggerate  if there were 100 stories inside the building  under 75 feet, it’s still 75 feet off the ground. It’s not a function of stories, which is why the state building code has no mention of stories. Stories are irrelevant, are meaningless. Think about 75 feet, every story one foot apart, so there’s 75 stories in it, it doesn’t affect  the firemen going up the building 75 feet; it doesn’t affect a firetruck with a hook and ladder going up 75 feet, and it doesn’t affect water going up 75 feet to put it up. What in God’s name does the number of stories have to do with something being deemed a high rise.

"It’s from the old code. It was missed. What it does is, it makes it seems like there’s a compromise on safety. That is just silly. Because the operative issue is, is the building under 75 feet? It isn’t how many stories it is. It’s just math. The City of White Plains regardless of affordable housing, market rate housing, one story or 75 stories should look at that code and come to the conclusion that why somebody is saying it is a high rise, it doesn’t say high story. It says high rise. We designed the building to be exactly to be 74.87 feet for a reason, so we didn’t have to qualify BY LAW you don’t have to qualify for high rise construction.

"Why would you do that? If you weren’t able to get 50 stories,  if you weren’t able to go 400 feet in the air, why would you want to build a building 76 feet in the air and go for high rise construction because it costs a fortune.”

I asked Mr. Cappelli if anyone from the city pointed this out to him.

Cappelli said, “Well, no. The White Plains Building Department has been fabulous. They’ve been fabulous with the Ritz-Carlton. The improvement in the White Plains Building Department since the Commissioner Amadio took over, has been incredible. The Ritz got built because of the proficiency of the White Plains entire Building Department and the White Plains Fire Department, Public Safety Department. This has nothing to do with that.

This has to do with there’s a code that’s antiquated that’s conflicting. The point is, regardless of me, I’m just a sideshow here because of some things going on.

The issue is  somebody needs to look at the definition of high rise and not mix it up with stories, because one has nothing to do with the other.”

I asked him if the city caught it: “Yes of course, the city’s right on top of these things. We didn’t catch it, the city caught it. Nobody knew. Our people here assumed that high rise meant 74.87 feet. Nobody here assumed it really had to do with the number of stories because it doesn’t make any sense.”

I asked him if the solution would to be build a bigger, taller complex on the 240 Mains Street site. Cappelli said, “No, it’s not about a profit. “

Asked how if he and the city were near to a resolution allowing the building to go ahead, Cappelli  said “I can’t do anything about it. I’m stuck here. I’ve paid my building permit fee. I’ve underpinned the building. When talking to the building department, I told them how can this be, it’s impossible.”