Vacant Orangetown Conference Center to Be Acquired Through Eminent Domain

by Rockland Daily Staff 

Orangetown has been waiting two years for the Chinese company, HNA Group, to sign an agreement with a developer after years of vacancy.

The 106-acre Palisades hotel and conference center on Route 9W was purchased for $60 million in 2016 by HNA Training Center NY LLC. In 2018, HNA put the property on the market. In 2019, Brooklyn-based Vasco Ventures was going to purchase the property for $40 million, but the deal fell through, with Vasco Ventures leaving an $8 million down payment. In 2021, HNA Group announced bankruptcy. 

The Town of Orangetown has decided to take the first steps to acquire the parcel through eminent domain/condemnation. Eminent domain is the power of the government to convert private property into public use, but only if the property owners are given "just compensation".

"We are starting the process, if need be, to do eminent domain," said Town Supervisor Teresa Kenny. "There is still an outside chance they will sign the agreement."

The process of eminent domain is both costly and time-consuming, but according to Kenny, the property is in disrepair. 

"The property has violations, oil spills, sinkholes, vandalism, lawsuits, and the water's been turned off," the Supervisor said. "The Town is prepared to take action to do what we were trying to avoid. HNA still has not signed an agreement with the chosen developer despite the fact that they've complied and done everything that's been asked of them."

The Town wrote in its resolution, "The Town of Orangetown has a vision for maximizing, revitalizing and redeveloping the currently underutilized and vacant property for the benefit of the community with a use that will have the public purpose of enhancing the sound growth of the town, increasing its tax base, preserving key environmental on-site features, providing public amenities and uses and encouraging good design standards."