Pharmacist and WellCare founder Ed Ullman’s plans to buy the Phoenicia Pharmacy have been scotched by the refusal of the Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC) to grant him a low-interest loan for renovating the property. Ullman’s is the second application to the CWC since the Phoenicia town board’s failure to act on the sewer system proposal resulted in New York City’s withdrawal of funds from the project in 2012. Both Ullman and the previous applicant, Mike Ricciardella, who was seeking a loan to renovate the former Al’s Restaurant, were turned down by the CWC.
Ricciardella succeeded in obtaining private financing for his new restaurant, now renamed The Phoenician and scheduled to open this fall in its expanded building on Main Street. Ullman pointed out that Ricciardella, as owner of three other restaurants in town, has plenty of collateral, and The Phoenician is not in the floodplain. Ullman, doubtful about the prospects of getting a private loan for the pharmacy, has withdrawn his purchase offer.
