Emerson Hospitality has announced plans to acquire and redevelop Black Creek Barns, a historic 153-acre property in Esopus, transforming the former agricultural estate into a 70-room destination resort with an anticipated opening in late 2027.
The property sits along Black Creek, near both the John Burroughs Nature Sanctuary and Scenic Hudson’s Black Creek Preserve, placing it within one of the Mid-Hudson Valley’s most ecologically and historically significant corridors. Once owned by Colonel Oliver Hazard Payne, a late-19th-century industrialist, the estate was originally designed by Julian Burroughs, the son of naturalist and conservation writer John Burroughs, whose legacy is closely tied to the surrounding landscape. His rustic cabin, Slabsides, is just down the road from Black Creek Barns.
According to the announcement, Emerson Hospitality plans to restore six historic structures on the site while adding newly built cabins and suites, bringing the total number of accommodations to 70. The redevelopment is framed as an adaptive-reuse project intended to preserve the site’s architectural heritage while introducing new uses and programming.
Planned amenities include a 7,000-square-foot indoor event hall designed to host weddings, festivals, concerts, and retreats; a 9,000-square-foot craft and design center; two dining venues; and a wellness facility with saunas, steam rooms, plunge pools, and a gym. Outdoor features are slated to include a cliffside pool, walking trails, retail and exhibition spaces, and family- and pet-friendly areas such as fire pits, a children’s ramble, and a dog run.
Jordan Goldberg, principal and CEO of Emerson Hospitality, described the project as an effort to balance preservation with new uses. “Black Creek Barns is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a destination shaped by history, landscape and community,” Goldberg said in the announcement. “It is a privilege to work with the Town of Esopus to reimagine this historic campus as a resort and gathering place that combines craft, nature, wellness, and hospitality in a completely new way for the Hudson Valley.”
Founded in 2024, Emerson Hospitality is a relatively new entrant to the Hudson Valley hospitality landscape, but its leadership team brings experience from high-profile hotels, restaurants, and creative placemaking projects in New York City and beyond. The company describes itself as a long-term owner and operator focused on repositioning distinctive properties rather than developing standardized hotel brands.
Construction is already underway, with the resort scheduled to open in late 2027. Once complete, Black Creek Barns will join a growing cluster of large-scale destination properties in the Hudson Valley—Hutton Brickyards, Wildflower Farms, Mirbeau’s properties in Rhinebeck and Beacon, to name a few. Black Creek Barns adds a new hospitality presence in Esopus while raising questions—common to projects of this scale—about growth, preservation, and the evolving balance between tourism and landscape stewardship in the region.
