It has sat mostly empty for nearly 30 years, but the former IBM Tech City site in the town of Ulster may be getting new life, leading some to say it could help revitalize the area's business community.

“For years now, not too much has gone on over there, except a mess,” said Randy Spiesman, who each day looks across the street of his realty business and sees piles of asbestos covered by tarps outside the former IBM site. “Definitely an eyesore, and I was always hoping something would come in there.”

If things go according to plan, Spiesman will get what he and others have long wanted. 

Ulster County officials announced National Resources, a real estate development and investment firm, purchased the site and will redevelop it into a business park.

The county says the redevelopment will be a win-win, as it will do away with the blight while adding tax revenue.

“This has been a long time in the making,” Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan said. “Finally getting a positive cycle going here. We believe that will attract dozens of high-growth companies, paying good jobs in future industries.”

The group already has experience with old IBM buildings in the Hudson Valley. It transformed the former Fishkill campus into iPark 84, a 300-acre site with nine buildings and multiple tenants.

“It's a new challenge, it's our latest challenge,” said Lynn Ward, executive vice president of National Resources, who has dubbed the latest project iPark 87. It's located just a few miles away from the Interstate.

She says its a perfect location for a business park.

“If they don’t do anything else, as long as they do the jobs, it's a success story," Ward said. "So, once we get the first business who adds employees, it sort of snowballs from there on.”

Ryan said restoring the site will lift the Ulster County economy. He expects a $200 million dollar investment there over 10 years and hopefully, thousands of jobs to come.

Spiesman says he’s glad something big will be coming to Ulster after a long battle with the site’s former owner, Allan Ginsburg, who, according to the county, owed back taxes and never cleaned up the area.

“To have businesses across the street would be positive to our real estate business as well,” Spiesman said. “Having thousands of jobs would be a boon to this area. We have so many people coming up from New York City and New Jersey wanting to live in our area, but we don’t have too many full-time jobs, big companies with jobs.”