Take a glance up the "Quickway"....at your local development soon

Monticello condo project sits unfinished, empty By Victor Whitman Times Herald-Record January 13, 2010 MONTICELLO — Sullivan County's tallest building is an uncompleted, hulking shell that looms — with an uncertain future — over the village Billed as a luxury condo complex before the economy soured, Dunbar Towers might never see a resident. Village officials are unsure when the 175,000-square-foot... [more]

Monticello condo project sits unfinished, empty By Victor Whitman Times Herald-Record January 13, 2010 MONTICELLO — Sullivan County's tallest building is an uncompleted, hulking shell that looms — with an uncertain future — over the village Billed as a luxury condo complex before the economy soured, Dunbar Towers might never see a resident. Village officials are unsure when the 175,000-square-foot building — with 92 one-and-two- bedroom condos overlooking the Monticello Casino & Raceway — will be completed. The condos were to be sold to retired snowbirds that fly off to Florida in the winters, or downstate second-home owners, in the $200,000-250,000 range. But if the tower ever opens, one realtor says it almost certainly won't be luxury condos. The only thing close by is a struggling racino and harness track and empty stores on Broadway. "Snowbirds have been AWOL from the market all year," said David Knudsen, a Sullivan County broker who writes a blog on the local market. "We didn't see any of those people in the past year." Knudsen said that marketing a condominium tower in the village presents several problems — not the least of which is that folks can buy detached homes in better locations for less money. Brooklyn developer Lieb Puretz locked down a $15.2 million construction loan in June 2007. The project appears to have run out of cash. The village has had fleeting contact with the developer in recent months. Puretz and project manager Kalman Friedus of Fallsburg didn't return numerous calls for comment. Monticello Building Inspector Sue Flora said she was inside several months ago when the elevators were installed. That contractor, Lift-Tech Elevator Services, has filed a lien for unpaid bills totaling $71,139, county records indicate. Another company, Commercial Project Management, filed a lien for $236,165. Work stopped months ago. The building permit expired Sept. 9. If work was to resume, the developer would have to pay $13,250 to renew the permit, Flora said. Some mechanical work was done inside. But the entire interior needs to be finished before anybody could move in, Flora said. "They have a long way to go," she said. Knudsen said that the building might be sold as low-cost housing, rentals or an assisted living facility. And then again, it might join Sullivan's shrinking list of ruins left from its hotel era. Only a few famous hotels, like Grossinger's, and the Concord towers — which stood 120 feet tall before it was torn down in 2008 — actually had a heyday. "It could sit there unfinished," Knudsen said of the Monticello project. [less]