Goshen, NY - KJ Developer to Buy 30-Acre Arden Hill Campus, His Plans are Unclear

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Goshen, NY - A deal is being finalized to sell the Arden Hill campus of Orange Regional Medical Center to a Monroe planner with ties to the Village of Kiryas Joel.

The buyer is Simon Gelb, said Goshen Mayor Bob Weinberger, who learned of the deal from an Orange Regional official Friday morning. Gelb, who works out of an office in Monroe, has not indicated what he plans to do with the 30-acre site, which sits just off Route 17's Exit 125.

"They are just investors, and they may just sell it again," said Weinberger. Gelb, reached Friday at his Monroe office, declined to comment.

Gelb has been linked over the years to a number of high-profile development projects throughout the region:

In 2004, he was involved with a plan to annex large amounts of neighboring land to the fast-growing Village of Kiryas Joel. Last year, he proposed building 2,000 homes across three towns in Sullivan County, rankling local officials and environmentalists. He later reduced the proposal by half.

Weinberger is worried that Gelb or a successive buyer might try to keep the Arden Hill property off the tax rolls.

Weinberger is also miffed that the sale is being conducted without input from the community it serves. Weinberger first learned of the deal with Gelb when a reporter asked him about it.

Arden Hill is owned by a local development corporation. The three board — lawyer Phil Dropkin, who does some work for the Gerry Foundation; Maureen Halahan, of the Orange County Partnership; and Rich Rowley, former owner of Rowley Building Products — all declined to comment for this story.