Developer to Build 100 Workforce Housing Units on 17B Near Monticello Raceway

MONTICELLO, N.Y. – A housing developer Kearney Realty & Development Group and Resorts World Catskills have signed a deal to build over 100 workforce housing units along County Route 17B near the Monticello Raceway. The contract was signed during Assemblymember Paula Elaine Kay’s third workforce housing roundtable last week.

Kay told Radio Catskill that the housing development will be for Sullivan County residents with a priority on local workers.

“The goal is for folks who work here to be able to live here and to be able to afford to live here, within the communities where they may have grown up, where their kids go to school, where they can access the healthcare they know,” said Kay.

She began coordinating workforce housing roundtables with Sullivan County’s largest employers, developers, local officials, and union members in January 2025 to potentially match developers with employers to build workforce housing. Finding an affordable housing rental remains one of the biggest challenges facing both workers and employers, says Kay.

“The quality rental housing is just not something that we find here in Sullivan County, and the employees are, you know, they’re suffering, too, with their ability to keep people,” said Kay, who represents New York’s 100th Assembly District.

Robert DeSalvio, President of Genting America’s East – the parent company for Resorts World Catskills’ owner Empire Resorts – said housing has become the top issue facing New Yorkers.

“[Housing] is a challenge we see up close at all three of our Resorts World properties in Catskills, Hudson Valley, and New York City. There has never been a greater need — particularly for the people who power our operations and our local economies — for a place to call home,” said DeSalvio.

Kay said she’s working with Sullivan County’s Move Sullivan to add a pick-up and drop-off stop at the project site so residents can access public transportation.

With a signed contract between Resorts World Catskills and the developer, Kearney Realty & Development Group will head to the Village of Monticello’s planning board to continue the development process.

Image: Assemblymember Paula Kay and Ken Kearney of Kearney Realty & Development Group at the Sullivan County Workforce Housing Roundtable in June 2026 (Photo Credit: Assembly Member Paula Elaine Kay)