Melanie Lekocevic is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media on the plan by local developer Aaron Flach to create an event center, hotel and other businesses on South River Street in Coxsackie. Flach presented details of the proposal to the Coxsackie Village Board April 8, along with a request for a letter of support for what he is calling the South River Street Redevelopment Project. Flach has purchased four buildings on six acres along more than 600 feet of the Hudson River shoreline. The project is expected to take approximately four years to complete. The buildings will be renovated to include a 12,000-square-foot restaurant/bar/banquet hall, a 20,000-square-foot hotel, 3,500 square feet of additional commercial space with 10 high-end apartments, and 3,000 square feet of retail storefronts for small businesses, a series of docks and a kayak launch. “The whole idea is to promote tourism and economic development in downtown,” Flach said. “We want to bring people there that have never been there before and have them spend money, hang out and eat at local restaurants.” Flach did not specify a cost for the project, but the letter of support the village board agreed to provide will help in his effort to secure a $2 million state grant. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.