Monday, March 5, 2012

What's Happening with the Shrimp Box?

These two buildings, often referrred to collectively as the "Shrimp Box" because decades ago a restaurant by that name was located in one of the storefronts, are on the southeast corner of Warren and Second streets. In the early 1990s, both buildings were acquired by the Hudson Community Development and Planning Agency (HCDPA), and a scandalously large sum of money was spent on renovating them for low-income apartments. The garages on the ground floor along the Second Street side were converted into commercial space, but from the beginning, one of them has been rented out as an apartment. At the time of the renovation, it was rumored that the construction work was costing far more than it should and that the woman who headed up HCDPA at the time was channeling all the work to her boyfriend. Nevertheless, the project was completed, and people and businesses moved in. 

For several years after the renovation, the building continued to be owned and managed by HCDPA. It contributed greatly to that stretch of Second Street getting a reputation for being the filthiest block in Hudson--with discarded bottles, food wrapping, food scraps, and cigarette butts littering the sidewalk, street, and gutter. Often it was possible to witness packets of drugs being tossed from upstairs windows on Second Street to customers waiting on the sidewalk below.  

Around 2006, the building was purchased by Housing Resources of  Columbia County, which has proved to be a not very meticulous steward of the building. There's lots of peeling paint on the Warren Street storefronts, and the building's dumpster on Cherry Alley is notarious for being perpetually filled to overflowing and allegedly attracting rats.

At the beginning, the commercial spaces were occupied by a convenience store in the corner storefront, Tomm Eaton Real Estate in the other storefront facing Warren Street, and Taconic Driving School in one of the units facing Second Street. Tomm Eaton Real Estate moved out in 2008. For a while, at the beginning of 2010, Danny Taylor had his hair salon in that space, and in 2011, it was briefly the location of the Hip Hop Chop Shop, but for the past few months, that storefront has been empty again. 

The ground floor apartment on Second Street appears to be vacant and has been that way for a few months. But what's most shocking is that, in the past week or so, the Taconic Driving School, which has been there since the building opened, has decamped to a location in Greenport. Now the convenience store is the only commercial tenant in the building and the only ground floor tenant.

11 comments:

  1. This is one of the very few empty storefronts on Warren Street. Should be fairly easy to find a tenant.

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  2. Well, Ellen, it doesn't appear to be easy. It's been empty more than it's been occupied since Tomm Eaton Real Estate moved out.

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  3. Could be the state of affairs says more about the landlord than would-be tenants.

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  4. That corner is not great with the bodega and all. I would imagine it is hard to rent it out. The garbage accumulation is awful and is a health violation. Peter W. should do something about it.

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  5. What, my dear observer, is wrong with the bodega? I find the subtext of your implication incredibly distasteful. I am fond of the bodega, its owners, the presence it brings. As for the rest of it, I agree with John.

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  6. Perhaps the dumpster problem is one that is very common in the city: unauthorized use.

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  7. I've noticed that many dumpsters in the City are locked -- presumably by their owners. If unauthorized use is a problem, any hardware store will sell you a $5 solution that will solve that particular problem.

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  8. Maybe the dumpsters need to be dumped more often. I don't think locking them will solve the problem. People will just dump their trash next to the locked dumpster the way people drive down the roads and dump their garbage, beer cans, coffee cups, whatever, on people's lawns & property.

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  9. You may have a point, Marty. But then it's the code enforcement officer's duty to dig through that trash and ferret out the transgressor's identity I guess! Glad that's not my job!

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  10. Perhaps the view across the street from 203 Warren Street will look better once Galloway decides to finish the building that has had windows boarded up for how long? I see a 'cleaning' crew starting to do something. @Observer The bodega at the corner is not the issue. The owners are absolutely friendly and as other business owners on Warren Street do; contribute to the tax base.

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  11. My dear Alderpeople, whom I voted for in November: counter accusing and denial is a lame lazy tactic. Get out there and do something about the dumpster problem. As for the bodega, I have no animus against it, its owners or its patrons. But you cannot ignore facts on that particular corner: shootings in broad daylight and loitering. That's a fact, and if you don't want to deal with that, fine, I'll find someone else to vote for in the next election.

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