19th century textile factory re-woven for re-use

Developer Robert McAlpine is moving to give the city of Beacon the one thing it has been sorely lacking: a conference center and hotel. He”™s personally financing and building a boutique hotel, restaurant and event center, since most banks are still skittish about lending money for real estate development. Named The Roundhouse at Beacon Falls, the project will provide the much-needed hotel space the city was anticipating before the Recession.

McAlpine bought the nine-acre, 19^th-century textile mill at the end of Main Street, with its distinctive roundhouse facing Beacon Falls in summer 2010, and bypassed traditional financing by digging into his own retirement money to transform the property into a destination attraction.

The adaptive reuse of the former mill and its properties includes turning one former mill building into five work/live artists”™ lofts. The Roundhouse itself, will boast a 45-seat lounge, a 100-seat restaurant with an adjoining outdoor terrace that can accommodate up to 100 people, along with 14 boutique hotel rooms overlooking the falls from the second floor. The building will be connected by a bridge to two other nearby boutique hotels and a fitness center and spa. An event center facing the falls that will accommodate 250 people completes the package McAlpine plans to deliver to the southern Dutchess river city.

The five live/work artists”™ lofts have already been completed in one of its original buildings, with three sold at over $400,000 each.  “People in New York City are tired of paying New York City prices,” said McAlpine”™s son, Brendan. “Since Dia opened, Beacon is becoming a mecca for artists and craftsmen who can”™t afford the skyrocketing prices of the Big Apple, but are just a short one-seat ride away by train. They like the lifestyle ”“ a walkable community with shops, restaurants and galleries, a great waterfront, access to Manhattan… some trees, views and a little bit of country thrown in to make it relaxing ”“ and much less ”˜taxing.”™”

While McAlpine is working with LEED standards during the renovation and reconstruction of the property, he”™s not seeking the certification, except for the artists”™ lofts.

“Yes, it”™s nice to have, but it”™s also costly,” the longtime builder said. “It”™s great to have that piece of paper saying it is ”˜LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)  certified”™ but it isn”™t free and  it”™s not in the budget.” McAlpine”™s saved that part of the budget to work with the Rockwell Group and design a showplace on a site that was a city blight for decades.

Brendan McAlpine said the real purpose the Roundhouse was built in its distinctive shape has remained a mystery. “Unfortunately, we”™ve never found out why the original builders constructed it that way ”“ some say it was designed for blacksmiths, others say it was for trains to turn around in, but it is much too small for that. Perhaps someone will step forward and provide the answer.”

In addition to plans under way ”“ the outdoor patio/café has already been opened and will reopen when weather permits and the lounge will be completed by late spring. The Roundhouse at Beacon Falls plans to be fully operational by late summer 2012. Three more buildings on site have already been approved for condominiums. Those will remain on hold until The Roundhouse at Beacon Falls is up and running.

“We”™ve really received a warm welcome from the city”™s administration ”“ from former Mayor Steve Gold to new Mayor Randy Casale, and the public hearings have been overwhelmingly in favor of seeing this property turned around into an attraction,” said McAlpine. “It”™s also going to bring needed rateables to the city.”

What it isn”™t, said McAlpine dryly, “is retirement. That was the whole idea about moving up here ”“ but when I saw the waterfall and the property, I knew it was special. You just don”™t walk away.”