The new 42-room boutique hotel would include 12 two- and three-bedroom suites and feature a bike valet on weekends to accommodate visitors exploring along the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail.

In the early 1900s, Gail Borden and his company made condensed milk in Walden, Orange County, for what became known as the Borden Dairy Company. Now the property that manufactured the shelf-stable milk could become a 42-room boutique hotel.

The former factory, located at 2860 Route 208, has been owned by multiple different businesses over the years and has sat vacant since a fire in the 1990s. The bones of the building caught the eye of Michael Dorf, the entrepreneur who founded New York City’s iconic Knitting Factory music venue in the 1980s and City Winery in 2008.

He took his City Winery concept, which blends a wine bar, restaurant and live music venue all under one roof, to other U.S. cities, launching outposts in Chicago, Nashville, Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. In 2018, he purchased the former Montgomery Worsted Mills building in Montgomery to create another City Winery location in New York, about 10 minutes away from the new proposed hotel.

Dorf wants to pay homage to Borden, who revolutionized the dairy industry by developing the first successful commercial method of condensing milk, by naming the new hospitality venture “The Milk Factory.”

“We’re embracing exactly what the building was,” said Dorf. “The Borden family has great history as a business in America. It’s something the community is proud of and we’re embracing that.”

Borden’s company, whose first plant to make condensed milk was across the river in Wassaic in 1861, held major contracts supplying the Union Army with milk. The former Orange County factory was located along the Wallkill Valley Railroad corridor, which is a rail trail today.

“When I would ride my bike from Gardiner into Wallkill, I’d take the rail trail through Walden and to Montgomery … I kept passing by the Borden Milk Factory,” said Dorf, who lives in Manhattan has owned a second home in the Hudson Valley for over 30 years.

He was drawn to the dilapidated factory. “I loved the building and the bricks and the guts, which is really all that’s left,” he said.

Railroad tracks once created an easy way for Borden to distribute milk; today the rail trail disperses outdoor enthusiasts along its corridor. If Dorf’s proposal comes to fruition, which could take several months of review before the planning board, the new hotel and restaurant located along the rail trail would provide a food and drink pitstop for runners, bikers and walkers.

On weekends, the hotel plans to have a bike valet with a special off ramp to The Milk Factory. “You can stop by, get a glass of rosé in the summer, and get back on your bike safely,” said Dorf. 

Dorf had his eyes set on the property for a decade but started getting serious about it two years ago. The property was acquired by CWMD LLC on March 30 for $575,000, according to the Orange County clerk’s office. A conceptual plan was presented to the town of Walden planning board on March 14, and Dorf’s team hopes to make its preliminary presentation sometime this month.

If approved, the restaurant, which will be called “Moo,” will be the first to open, likely in 2023. Working with local farms, the restaurant will be half plant-based and use 100 percent grass-fed beef for meat-based dishes. A hotel, which would feature a dozen two- and three-bedroom suites among the 42-room mix, would follow the restaurant opening approximately six months later.

“We always need hotel rooms in the area, and people are looking for higher-end hotels compared to the things off I-87 or in Newburgh,” said Dorf. The nightly hotel rate will range between $350 and $450. “We really think we’re seeing a need for hotel rooms.”

Plans call for The Milk Factory to be a Net Zero property, relying on solar power to help achieve sustainability. There will also be a pool, spa and gym for guests. The property’s 20-acre footprint also could make it an ideal wedding venue, similar to its sister property, City Winery.

However, the hotel will not have live music like City Winery offers. “We’re trying to make it very distinct from City Winery,” said Dorf.

“We want to cross fertilize. We think City Winery and The Milk Factory are great amenities to bring weekenders up and enjoy the beauty of the Hudson Valley so we want to coordinate as much as possible.”

— Construction resumes at $1 billion development in Hyde Park

— Kingston at a crossroads: A look at the Kingstonian development

— The most (and least) expensive ZIP codes for Capital Region, Catskills and Hudson Valley homebuyers

— How to find the right Hudson Valley town to live in

— Your guide to home buying in the Catskills and Hudson Valley

For more on the latest in real estate and design trends, sign up for our Places and Spaces newsletter here.

Cloey Callahan is a lifelong Hudson Valley resident who was born and raised in Brewster, lived in New Paltz for four years while she attended college, and now resides in Newburgh on Liberty Street. On a sunny day, she strolls through Newburgh enjoying the 19th-century architecture on her way to the Hudson River waterfront. You can reach her at cloey.callahan@hearst.com to say hi or with pitches.