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Hotel Is Asking Village of Nyack To Expand Uses In Its Zone, Including Assisted Living
By Tina Traster
The Hotel Nyack has a storied history, and it may be preparing to write a new chapter.
From its inception as a boutique hotel in 2016, the property changed hands, changed its name, switched up its restaurant brands, and toughed it out through the COVID pandemic. But now, with hotel occupancy hovering between 50 and 60 percent, the hotel has hired an attorney to assist in asking the Village of Nyack for a text amendment to allow new zoning uses in the existing manufacturing zone.
The new uses sought by Juniper Time LLC, an Arizona-based company that owns the hotel, include retirement homes, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and multifamily dwellings. Permitted uses in the “M” zone already include hospitals, clinics or related health care facility uses, manufacturing and self-storage facilities.
The 133-room Hotel Nyack at 400 High Street, operating under the Hyatt Joie de Vivre flag, is the sole property sitting in the Village’s “M” (Manufacturing) Zone.
The Village Board seems supportive of the change, though the loss of the hotel, restaurant and event venue, as well as the loss of the hotel tax the Village collects and uses to promote local tourism, would hurt. The Village collects a 3 percent hotel occupancy tax on hotels/motels.
Also at issue may be the additional burden an assisted living facility would put on the Nyack Community Ambulance Corps.
Nationally, hotels are currently operating at approximately 65 percent occupancy. The Hotel Nyack is only operating at 58 percent occupancy, according to the narrative submitted by the hotel in support of the zoning amendment.
Attorney Ira Emanuel, the attorney hired by Juniper Time LLC, said no plan exists to convert the hotel – the owners are seeking a zoning change, as they explore the hotel’s future.
“Although Petitioner has no current plans to close the hotel, it is aware that the hotel is not attracting an appropriate level of business,” the applicant said in its narrative. “Nationally, hotels are currently operating at approximately 65 percent occupancy. The Hotel Nyack is only operating at 58 percent of occupancy. While the Petitioner believes that it can increase occupancy, it also must face the fact that it may not be successful in doing so. If the hotel must close, the empty building would be a burden on Petitioner and the Village. Empty hotels do not pay taxes and tend to attract squatters.”
Nearly a decade ago, the then-vacant warehouse that was at one time a plastics and metal manufacturer was converted to The Time Nyack, Nyack’s first and only boutique hotel – setting up a world of promise for the village as the location for a hip, trendy destination. The Time Nyack was developed by WYINC, the boutique development house behind the Pod 39 hotel and The Whitman, in NYC, and was managed by Dream Hotel Group, the hotel brand and management company behind the the Dream Hotels, Time Hotels, and others.
Two years later, the Time Hotel was forced into bankruptcy. In August 2018, the bankruptcy trustee Fred Stevens declared the debtor’s mortgage had matured without repayment, vendors were refusing services for nonpayment, including O&R, a $5.9 million judgment lien was secured by a prior management company, and BV Grill, the onsite restaurant, had not paid rent in months, if ever.
In March 2019, Stevens approved an $18.5 million sale of the The Time Hotel of Nyack to Juniper Time LLC, a company affiliated with IMH Financial Corporation. Nyack’s business community sighed a breath of relief, hoping the Village would retain the hotel.
At the time, Stevens called Juniper a “real industry player” that will maintain the integrity of the hotel and the continuity of jobs. However, nothing in the sale stipulated that Juniper must continue to operate the hotel. IMH is a privately-held Scottsdale, Arizona-based real estate investment and finance company that focuses on investments in commercial, hospitality, industrial and residential real estate and mortgages secured by such assets. At present, the company owns and operates one hotel in Arizona.
In August 2020, Bobby Van’s Steakhouse (BVs Grill), the celebrity-named steak and seafood restaurant at The Time Hotel in Nyack, closed. By February 2021, the rebranded “Hotel Nyack,” was rebranded again under Hyatt’s “Joie de Vivre” signature line in a franchise agreement. The fine dining establishment, owned and operated by restaurateur Joseph Smith, had fallen victim to the coronavirus pandemic, though it was struggling prior to that while the Time Hotel cycled through bankruptcy and new ownership.
Many believed the rebranded hotel under the Hyatt flag and the new restaurant The Grille would usher in a new era for the hoteliers. The restaurant later became FARM at Hotel Nyack.
The Hotel Nyack earlier this year sought benefits through the Rockland County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) to build out a 5,750 square foot rooftop food and beverage venue with an occupancy of 300-plus people. It sought sales tax, mortgage tax, and a PILOT program based on the economic benefits the new venue would bring the county through tourism and jobs. The IDA authorized about $200,000 in benefits based on construction costs of about $2.1 million.
But the hoteliers appear to be pivoting, due to lackluster occupancy rates and financial constraints. Instead, it is considering whether the property would be more suitable for assisted living, or other uses.
Only one significant concern has been raised to date over the hotel converting to assisted living.
William McDowell, president of the Nyack Community Ambulance Corps, said his organization is flooded with calls from other nursing facilities like the nearby Tappan Zee Manor. He pointed out that the provision in the Special Permit that the new facility would be required to contract with a private ambulance company for non-emergency calls was illusory as no such vendor exists in Rockland County. The current Ambulance Corps is already strained with limited resources.
As an alternative, McDowell suggested a fee to enable the Corps to expand and cover the costs of additional service would be a better option.
A vote on the zoning amendment was tabled until the issue could be studied further and the burden on the first responders mitigated.
Other issues discovered during a mandatory review by the Rockland County Planning Department were resolved by tweaking the proposed zoning proposal to address the number of permitted units, the size of the units, and parking inconsistencies in the existing code.
The public hearing is continued to Nov. 14.
