(17 Mar 2017) For sale: sturdy buildings on 325 acres in the Adirondack foothills with spectacular views.
But the property on Mount McGregor was also a former medium-security New York state prison. And if history is any guide, it will be a tough sell.
"Well, we've had a wide range of interest from potential energy facilities, to use in training, to re-purposing for potential tourism uses," said Michael Yevoli, a regional director for New York's Empire State Development.
Mount McGregor is on the market for a second time. It is among 13 prison and incarceration camps in New York state that have been closed since 2011. Only four have been sold. State officials think the view from McGregor could be a selling point.
"It's a commanding view of the area. We're in the foothills of the Adirondacks. You can see into Vermont, you can see into the Adirondacks, you can see down the Hudson Valley," Yevoli said.
One study found that at least 22 states have closed or announced plans to close 94 state prisons and juvenile facilities since 2011, and only a few have been sold or repurposed.
Some of McGregor's date back a century or more to when a tuberculosis sanitarium operated here. In 1960, the state turned the facility it into a center for developmentally disabled people. Sixteen years later it became a state prison.
"The original site was a hotel site. So it has a longer use than just the prison facility. But it was built around that use," Yevoli said.
William Browning, head of a Florida-based television production company specializing in reality-style shows, liked the razor wire-topped chain-link fences enclosing the grounds.
"Yeah, we're absolutely interested so we'll be putting a proposal together," said Browning, CEO and executive producer for Weston, Florida-based Browning Productions and Entertainment.
The agency didn't list an asking price in its request for proposals for redeveloping the site.
"It's very unique. I've seen a lot of prisons for different purposes that we're looking at but this one has a very historical nature to it and I think the condition is fairly decent considering it's been closed for so long," Browning said.
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