Greylock Glen Campground Developer Pulls Out Over Financing
ADAMS, Mass. — Shared Estates has pulled out of the campground project at the Greylock Glen.
In a letter to the town, managing partner Daniel Dus said the company was not able to find the financing for the project.
"Developer does not anticipate being able to close the financing by the financing contingency date, and therefore hereby exercises its right to terminate this agreement," Town Administrator Kenneth Walto read to the board at Tuesday's budget workshop meeting.
Shared Estates was selected to develop the campground in 2022.
Selectman Joseph Nowak said he wasn't surprised at the news.
"I think the problem was that we opened the Outdoor Center with so much fanfare, and we didn't have our ducks in a row," he said. "When that building was open, everything should have been in place so that the buzz would have kept on going. ...
"It's a bad break for the town of Adams."
Chair John Duval said he was disappointed as well but it wasn't the first setback they'd had, noting the failure of the first developer of the Memorial Building to find financing.
But the next company chosen is expected to provide an update plan next month so it is moving along, he said.
"So yes, we had the same kind of a problem there. Someone couldn't get the investment, the funding support," said Duval. "We went back out and we found someone, and they're just about ready to go. So it's happening again. It's just, again, disappointing, but we need to continue on with this project."
The campground was projected bring in $3.5 million to $6 million a year and provide $8 million or more in revenue directly to the town over 25 years. The year-round facility was expected to bring hundreds of people to Adams on a regular basis, based on Shared Estates' bookings.
The company has redeveloped a number of significant and historic properties, including George Westinghouse's Playhouse in Lee (featured on Netflix's "World’s Most Amazing Vacation Rentals") and Christopher Reeve's home in Williamstown, for leasing on the short-term rental market.
Walto said he'd met with the town's interim community development director, Donna Cesan, to find a way forward.
Cesan, who's been involved with the glen project for more than 20 years, recommended the town focus on the Outdoor Center and getting the agreements in place with the vendors — Mass Audubon and food service provider Chez Hospitality Group LLC.
And get the request for the proposals out for the lodge and "take a step back" and look again at the campground project before putting out another RFP.
"She recommended to me ... to get the leases with the two entities that are going to occupy the building," Walto said. "We should get licenses in place as soon as we can, so that they can operate during the summer. Starting that tomorrow."
Tags: Greylock Glen,
