In Austin, Texas, rents have dropped by 6 percent over the past year. The Austin area's median rent is now $1,274. For the past decade, Austin has taken a very YIMBY (Yes in My Backyard) approach to building new housing, doing a lot of the same things that have been done or talked about here in Hudson: eliminating parking requirements, allowing accessory dwelling units (ADUs), updating the zoning codes. The article explores the degree to which those policy changes are responsible for Austin's success in bringing down the cost of housing but ultimately comes to this simple conclusion: Supply influences cost. You need a sufficient supply of housing in order for housing to be affordable.
The article inspired me to take a look at the fate of the housing projects that have been proposed in Hudson over the past six years, from the time Kamal Johnson took office as mayor of Hudson with a seemingly aggressive agenda to provide affordable housing in Hudson.
The first project, which we were led to believe had been worked out in collaboration with the Galvan Foundation even before Johnson took office, was the Depot District, a two-building, mixed-income "neighborhood" on North Seventh Street.
Announced in early January 2021, the Depot District was promised to "help relieve Hudson's housing crisis." The press release announcing the project declared: "Finally, households of all sizes and income levels will access high-quality housing in Hudson that they can afford."
Five years later, only one of the two buildings has been completed, and there is little hope the other ever will be. (Plans for the second building were abandoned because the three houses on site, one with historic significance, were demolished before financing for new construction was secured, thus rendering the project ineligible for state funding.) Of the 64 apartments available in the building that has been completed, it seems only 17 are occupied. The income constraints make it difficult to find qualified tenants for the remaining apartments.
In early 2022, another plan emerged, this one initiated by the City of Hudson in the form of a committee made up of the mayor (Johnson), the mayor's aide (Michael Hofmann), Council president (Tom DePietro), a councilmember (Art Frick), and Housing Justice Director Michelle Tullo. This project, which involved building various types of housing on city-owned land, had three parts: an attached pair of houses on Rossman Avenue; a pair of apartment buildings on Mill Street; and an apartment building at the corner of State Street and North Fourth.
Early on, the plan to build houses on Rossman Avenue was abandoned because of problems with the site; the controversial Mill Street Lofts proposal is
tied up in court; and nothing has been heard of the project proposed for State and Fourth streets for more than a year.
During this same period, there have been a couple of projects proposed by small local developers. The first was the "subdivision" to be called
"Gifford Place" proposed by Walter Chatham for the vacant land on the west side of Hudson Avenue, across the street from the Little League field. It involved a total of sixteen new homes--eight townhouses in two blocks of four, and eight freestanding houses on a private street.
The Planning Board's review of the project dragged on for more than two years, from June 2022 to September 2024. Chatham told
Gossips the site plan review cost $43,500 in fees paid to the Planning Board's engineering consultant alone, an amount that was roughly twice what was paid to the project's own engineer. It has been more than a year since the Planning Board granted
preliminary approval of the project, and to
Gossips' knowledge no work has yet commenced, but the project has not been abandoned.
The experience before the Planning Board was similar for the pair of apartment buildings proposed for Fairview Avenue between Glenwood and Parkwood boulevards.
The project was before the Planning Board for two years--from June 2023 until May 2025--before it was granted
site plan approval with a long list of conditions. A year into the review, the Planning Board took the unusual course of creating a three-person subcommittee to study the project. The subcommittee came back with a number of
requests, one of which was to reduce the number of apartments by half.
The demolition of the buildings on the site
happened in January, but so far no further work has begun, inspiring rumors that the project had been abandoned.
Gossips has it on good authority that the work required to meet the various conditions of the site plan approval is moving forward, and the project has not been abandoned.
The City has been awarded a grant to revise its zoning code. When that process begins, there will no doubt be a lot of talk about making changes to make it easier to build new housing in Hudson. The experience of the past six years shows that the zoning code, despite its many problems, is not the impediment some think it is. Let's review.
- 75 potential dwelling units at 75 North Seventh Street were lost because the developer (Galvan) ignored the rules
- 94 potential dwelling units (70 at Mill Street Lofts and 24 at State Street Lofts) are in limbo because the City ignored the law and its own covenants and the developer (Kearney) proposed buildings inappropriate for the sites
- 42 potential dwelling units (16 at Hudson Avenue and 26 on Fairview Avenue) are uncertain because the Planning Board did not review the proposals in the timely and professional manner
That's 211 dwelling units--some low- to moderate-income, some market rate--lost or uncertain for reasons that have nothing to do with zoning laws.
COPYRIGHT 2026 CAROLE OSTERINK
