Holiday Valley plans $8M in upgrades to resort – with tax breaks

That is assuming the resort's local owner, Win-Sum Ski Corp., gets a sales tax break on more than $7.1 million in purchases.

Win-Sum intends to make an assortment of improvements to the four-season destination, to ensure it remains competitive with larger regional rivals.

According to its application to the County of Cattaraugus Industrial Development Agency, the 60-year-old resort will complete renovations to The Inn and replace its roof and redesign the brewpub. That includes upgrades to 35 guest rooms in the 29-year-old Inn over three years, with new painting, carpeting and fixtures, and a new convenience area for guests coming in from skiing.

It also plans to repair or replace carpeting in the main lodge and two other buildings, upgrade its snowmaking equipment and complete installation of a new chair lift. It will also buy a new Sno Cat and golf equipment, as well as information technology software.

A host of smaller projects, ranging from $10,000 to $100,000, are also planned, including a new website, digital signs, a pool project and pool deck repair, road repair, an expansion of the "roller coaster" and room amenities. Work would begin May 15, and would finish within 12 months.

In all, the resort will spend $5.5 million on building construction and $1.68 million for equipment, plus $420,000 for infrastructure and $50,000 for reconstruction and renovation. Funding will come from company equity, but Win-Sum says it needs the $568,000 tax break to stay competitive, and would reinvest the savings.

“You can count on one hand the number of ski resorts in this state that invest every year,” said CCIDA Executive Director Corey Wiktor. “That’s just a great testimony to how that resort is becoming not just November to April.”

The project is retail in nature, but Holiday Valley is considered a tourist destination, the application noted. The resort employs 149 full-time and 535 part-time workers, all of whom would be retained.