BY ERIKA NORTON
TUXEDO — Cars driving home from work on Route 17 can be seen slowing down to check out the elaborate Christmas decorations at the old Tuxedo IGA Market, one of the numerous historic buildings that will be renovated as part of the Revitalization Project of the Tuxedo Sloatsburg Corridor.
The decorations are just part of the efforts by Michael Bruno, founder of the Tuxedo Hudson Company spearheading the project, to give local residents a feel for what type of project is coming to the Town of Tuxedo and the Village of Sloatsburg. The goal of the project is to revive the area’s commercial economy by transforming a number of the historical buildings along Route 17 into places for antiquing, world-class cuisine and lodging.
The projectIncluded in the finished project will be a market, a bike shop, a restaurant, a hotel, a coffeehouse cafe, a small wedding chapel, and an antique shop.
In Sloatsburg, the first phase will be turning the three Victorian-style houses along Route 17 into a hotel, which will include a pool and poolside dining and a coffeehouse/cafe near the hotel.
“The four houses on the front, the old Victorians that will sort of make up the personality of that whole complex, are now vacant and are well on their way to being under construction,” Bruno said, “and those four should be ready for occupancy in April (2017).” In total, that will be about 22 rooms.
The second phase in Tuxedo will be turning the old IGA building into the Tuxedo Market, a place for fresh, local food with a restaurant, bar, and lodging upstairs for about 28 people. Bruno said they spent about two months having asbestos removed, a much bigger project than they expected, but in late January 2017 construction will start on that building and it will open over the summer.
The top floor of the market will have room for 28 people, with a hostel area of shared bedroom and bath creating more space. Bruno is hoping to attract the New York City crowd for weekend trips of hiking, biking and shopping at the Woodbury Common Premium Outlets nearby.
“It’s really connected to the trails,” he said, “so it’ll be a hiking destination.”
“The bottom line is by spring, we’ll have a cafe/coffeehouse open along with 22 rooms in Sloatsburg,” Bruno said, “and then by summer, we’ll have the market and another about 12 rooms, but altogether it sleeps about 28 because of the hostel part.”
Recent grantThe Tuxedo Hudson Company also recently received a $750,000 grant from the Mid-Hudson Economic Development Council to help fund the project. The grant, he said, will make a big difference because the work they are doing is on a very high level, such as installing wood shingle roofs, replacing aluminum siding with wood siding, and changing the aluminum windows to wood windows to maintain the character of the historic buildings.
The four Victorian houses are also being renovated to be extremely energy efficient, Bruno said, with every room having control of it's own air conditioning and heat with all brand new systems. It will be so efficient that if the air conditioning’s on and someone opens a window, the air conditioning will turn off.
New plumbing and all new electrical systems will be installed as well, he said, “so that it’s good to go for another 100 years.”
Community responseTo let local residents get a taste of the project, a farmer’s market and courtyard was set up over the summer in Sloatsburg, Bruno said, so residents wouldn’t be so concerned with the changes, but instead enjoy the process. So far, the response from the local community has been positive, he said, with at least 500 people coming to the farmer’s markets on the summer weekends.
Local residents and officials have also said they love the holiday decorations at the Tuxedo Market and the Sloatsburg Victorian houses.
“I mean who doesn’t want someone coming and spending millions and millions in their community revitalizing,” Bruno said, “especially if you do it with a sensitive touch toward historic renovation?”