“After a very long journey, it has become clear that the climate in Mayville, New York, is not conducive to the development of fractional condominiums on Chautauqua Lake for many reasons — some of which are obvious and many which are not,” developers said in a statement to The Post-Journal and OBSERVER. “With regret, the plans for building The Lodge at Chautauqua Lake have been canceled and development terminated. We thank our many supporters.

We also want you to know that we our exploring other uses for the property, including potential residential development.”

The Lodge at Chautauqua had been considered one of the successes by county officials. In the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency’s 2021 year-end report, there were 10 items highlighted, with Webb’s Hospitality Resort listed at number 8.

In February, 2021, the Chautauqua Region Economic Development Corporation approved an agreement with Webb Hospitality Group, LLC. The agreement permitted $450,000 from a Community Development Block Grant be used to support The Lodge at Chautauqua Lake. The money was to be used to assist Webb’s in the funding of fixtures, furnishings and equipment with the development of a restaurant and bar, pool and fitness center, meeting rooms and other amenities. According to the agreement, $217,000 would be a term loan, $217,000 would be a deferred loan, and up to $16,000 would be used for program delivery and administrative costs.

OBSERVER Photos by Gregory Bacon Construction of a condominium will no longer take place at 74 Water St., Mavyille. The project called for 34 units at a cost of $17 million.

During Tuesday’s county Industrial Development Agency meeting, Chief Executive Officer Mark Geise said he met with developer Ben Webb about the decision. “He was very apologetic and wanted to thank us for all our hard work,” he said.

Geise said he was disappointed but didn’t blame the county for the project being canceled. “I’m really proud of the work we’ve done as the IDA. … It is what it is and we’ll see what happens there in the future,” he said.

Board Chairman Michael Metzger thanked Geise for trying to get The Lodge constructed, even though it won’t happen. “Some projects come to fruition and some do not but we work on them all,” he said.