Eight months after winning town approval after nearly a decade of costly legal battles, a school principal is behind a planned luxury rehabilitation center in New York. croton on hudson Currently, before a center can begin operating, it must obtain certification from the state agency that licenses medical facilities.
With three experienced rehabilitation facility managers in place and $3 million in new financing, kevin cassidyThe controversial businessman behind the project seems determined to pursue his goal of opening facilities quaker ridge road It is part of the village and has a picturesque location on a hill. hudson river.
The special use permit is town of cortland to Hudson Ridge Wellness center It will take effect in June 2023, come with dozens of operating conditions, and last for one year, expiring in June 2024. Within that one year, you must meet all approval requirements and earn your department chair and department head position. planning committee Sign the drawing set and complete the Planning Board process. So far, no work appears to have been done to renovate the existing building for the new center.
Since presenting the project to Cortland officials in 2015, Hudson Ridge Wellness Center supporters have spent nearly $3 million to purchase three parcels of land. Paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to lawyers and consultants. The property taxes were nearly $500,000. and spent $1.5 million to maintain the existing buildings on the site.
Semiannual school property taxes of $24,528.68 on the 2016 Quaker Ridge Road property are past due, according to the Tax Administrator’s Assessor’s Office in Cortland.
property is nearby tea towna 1,000-acre nonprofit conservation and environmental education center with 25 miles of hiking trails and a 2-acre island refuge.
The land and seven existing buildings were purchased by L&G Capital LLC 2010, Newburgh, New York Maharishi World Development Fund It was acquired for $1.15 million and transferred two years later to the Hudson Ridge Wellness Center, which Cassidy is involved with.
In July 2015, Cassidy visited the town of Cortland seeking special permits and permits for a residential facility to treat patients with substance abuse and chemical dependence disorders. He won approval for this project in June 2023 and has three of his experts certified in the field of substance abuse recovery on board.
Local opponents raised deep pockets to organize attacks on the proposal, took it to court, and attended numerous public hearings to voice their opposition to the plan. group, Responsible Citizen Hudson Institute Site Development, Inc. (CRHISD), ultimately lost in all court decisions, and Cassidy received his approval. Both sides spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees.
Citizen groups filed a new lawsuit against the town last year. Zoning Board of Appeals and complained of defeat at Hudson Ridge.
Some of the neighborhood’s prominent people who oppose the proposal include: tom secundaco-founder of bloomberg LPwhose net worth is calculated by Forbes to be $3.5 billion.
In a letter to state officials in August 2023, residents opposed to the project wrote: We also raised concerns about the secretive and somewhat shell game-like use of various LLCs – apparently owned or controlled by someone named Kevin Cassidy…who is guilty of multiple felonies He has an extensive criminal history for which he has been sentenced…”
Now that the developer has secured local approval, Hudson Ridge Wellness must be licensed and regulated by the state Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS).
In a letter to OASAS, Hudson Ridge Wellness identified the following key facts: behavior management groupthe proposed operator, Ms. kelly cassidycurrently serving as President of Operations. Serenity Springs Recovery Center Edgewater, Florida, and james cassidy. “Mr. James Cassidy currently serves as the Director of Serenity Springs Recovery Center in Florida. He has many years of experience in the field of substance use treatment,” the letter reads.
Jim Cassidy leads Preposterous HoldingsA private equity firm based in Asheville, North Carolina. He has been deeply involved in the healthcare industry, particularly in the field of addiction treatment and recovery, in executive, director, investor, owner and advisor roles.
The regional coordinator for OASAS, a state government agency, wrote in a July 2023 letter: Behavioral Health Services Advisory Committee Before becoming OASAS certified. Applicants are subject to background checks and must ensure that the ownership group has the requisite substance use disorder experience. ”
Attorney Kevin Cassidy did not respond to a relayed request for comment. James Cassidy did not respond to email requests.
Six months before receiving approval to continue operating from the Town of Cortland, Hudson Ridge Wellness Center has found a new source of funding from a prominent company in the $1 billion nursing home industry.
MJ Doubletrees LLCbased in Rockville Center, New York, lent Cassidy $2 million and currently has a lien on the property. 2016 Quaker Ridge Road. According to the documents, the mortgage interest rate is 12.5%. The mortgaged property also includes another adjoining Cassidy property. 35 Quaker Ridge Road in new castle.
January of this yearMJ Doubletrees loaned Hudson Ridge Wellness an additional $1 million in a second mortgage, which had an interest rate of 12 percent.
MJ Doubletrees is a limited liability company that owns nursing homes in Vermont. Sam Stern As a director. Mr. Stern is based out of an office in Brooklyn and has offices in Connecticut, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and New York. I am currently working as an officer at 131 nursing homes.
Stern in 1997 Brenton Eisenreich co-founded future care consultant The Edison, New Jersey-based company has one employee and is focused on helping medical groups manage revenue cycle management (RCM) and back-office services. By 2021, Future Care will have four offices, including Lakewood and Ramsey, New Jersey, as well as offices in Brooklyn, New York and Scranton, Pennsylvania, and more than 300 staff, according to the company’s website. grown.
“Future Care Consultants’ excellent working relationships with Medicaid and Medicare intermediaries make it faster and easier to collect checks for our residents,” the company’s website states.
In the email, Mr. Stern denied being an officer of MJ Double Trees.
One of the nursing homes Stern connects with is westchester: Briarcliff Manor Rehabilitation and Nursing Care Center.
Medicare website The nursing home rating organization gave Briarcliff Manor Center an overall score of 1 star and considers the facility to be well below average. We are rated 2 stars (out of 5 stars) for health inspections, 1 star for staffing, and 3 stars for quality assessment, which is comprised of a select set of clinical data.
Briarcliff Manor Center is the subject of seven lawsuits filed since 2020. The lawsuit alleges that inadequate care caused the deaths of patients living at the facility. Through a lawyer, elser wilson in white plains, The company denies the allegations in the lawsuit.
Calls to Briarcliff Manor Center and two attorneys representing the company in the lawsuit went unanswered.
CRHISD members continue to campaign against this project and Kevin Cassidy.
“Citizens for Responsible Hudson Institute Development continues to fight in court because unelected officials should not be allowed to erase parts of the law. The bill is not a proposal.” Jill GreensteinThe CRHISD Chairman said: River Journal North on mail.
“Citizens for responsible Hudson Institute development continue to fight outside the courtroom because people in need of treatment should be in trusted hands. If this is a program that can be trusted, why should major Are the players hiding behind multiple LLCs all located in the same UPS store (72 North State Highway) next to Squires in briarcliff? ”
Over the past several decades, Cassidy has been convicted of federal wire fraud and bank fraud, and jailed for tax evasion, credit card fraud, and money laundering. In one civil case, he was accused of defrauding investors of $13 million.
On her LinkedIn page, Cassidy described herself as the custodian/manager of the HR Wellness Center from January 2011 to present.
“In the future, we want to raise awareness about the need for compassionate treatment for people suffering from alcoholism and addiction. “Future development of a treatment center based on treatment. Administrator managing project development. Working to help people through my own life experiences,” his LinkedIn page reads.
Jim Roberts is a veteran journalist whose roots in Peekskill go back generations.
