Urban Renewal in the 21st Century
Toward the end of the meeting of the HDC (Hudson Development Corporation) Board on Tuesday, board member Nick Haddad reported on a meeting he and other board members had with representatives of Empire State Development (ESD) regarding the $486,000 awarded to HDC in the DRI (Downtown Revitalization Initiative) for the remediation of the Kaz warehouse site. Haddad described the meeting as a "come to Jesus moment" and reported that the message from ESD was: "You better get your act together, or the money might not be there." ESD wanted HDC to get back on track and develop a timeline for a new RFP process. They wanted a "game plan" within sixty days. It was suggested that HDC talk to the developers who made proposals in 2018--Bonacio Construction, Kearney Realty & Development, and Redburn Development--and see if, two years later, they were still interested.
Bob Rasner, president of the HDC Board, proposed appointing a small group to start the process of planning, a group that would include someone from the Planning Board. He suggested they consider how the 80-unit apartment building being proposed by Galvan Initiatives Foundation might affect the development of the Kaz site. He also shared what he had been told by a developer recently that "people cannot make residential properties work [financially] with only three stories." Board member Steve Dunn observed that HDC would need the City's cooperation with zoning changes. Haddad indicated that Mike Yevoli of ESD had made the point that "a group of volunteers cannot do this." Martha Lane suggested hiring a consultant.
When Rasner said he would be "chatting with people he hopes will serve on the ad hoc committee," Mayor Kamal Johnson, who is an ex officio member of the HDC Board, volunteered. He said he had been talking with Darren Scott of NYS Homes and Community Renewal about hiring Joe Czajka of Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress to create a master plan for development. As Gossips reported on February 14, Council president Tom DePietro said at the last HCDPA (Hudson Community Development and Planning Agency) meeting there was a plan to make Czajka the housing commissioner for Hudson. Now it seems the plan is to hire Czajka as a consultant, and Johnson proposed that HDC chip in $5,000 of Czajka's $25,000 fee. Responding to the proposal, Rasner said, "We need more conversation before committing to the Czajka plan."
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Ummm. Why is it we see the same names doing the same things -- everyone expecting different results? Kamal promised new vision, etc., and the first person he shacks up with is Galvan. Joe Czaika was brought in to oversee the infamous Affordable Housing task force -- the one that put out no agendas, took no minutes and forbade members from emailing each other. Oh, let's pay him some more money. A come to Jesus moment? I wish.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the obsessive fixation on creating another apartment building? How does this improve the quality of life for anyone currently living in Hudson? This is corporate welfare for developers and construction companies.
ReplyDeleteHere is a suggestion, take that $25,000 about to be wasted on consulting fees and use it to knock the building down, grade the land and let the trees grow back into a beautiful extension of the waterfront park. People can walk through it coming from the waterfront and train station to the 2nd Street stairs. That would improve the quality of life for people living in Hudson. Just because the State dangles money like a carrot on a stick does not mean you have to take it. They can spend it and boost their economic statistics somewhere else. It may seem like a great bunch of money and boost to the local economy, but once a wreck of an apartment building is placed there you are stuck with it. More people, more cars, more sewage, more pollution and garbage is not improving the quality of life for anyone.
A park is nice but tax-contributing is nicer. To improve the quality of life for every one in Hudson, anything that pushes down the property tax burden is a no-brainer.
DeleteI haven't seen anything pushing down the property tax burden in 20 years. Inspite of 43 new units built on top of Rossman Ave. I like the idea of the park.
DeleteJennifer, the Terrace has a PILOT (actually, a second PILOT) so they've been paying reduced taxes for nearly 20 years.
DeleteWe have a park on the waterfront, surrounding the Dunn warehouse. If you're concerned about waterfront greenspace, make sure the DRI Committee puts the brakes on any proposed development surrounding the Dunn warehouse directly adjacent to our riverfront, which is community space. KAZ could be a real relief to the community members paying property taxes, and the residential and commercial renters who contribute to the taxes indirectly.
DeleteI thought Joe Czajka worked for Patterns for Progress. So how would that work?
ReplyDeleteSusan
Four story office buildings and five star hotels, is the Sunnyside being gentrified?
ReplyDeleteReducing the tax burden is a good idea, but the old mindset of building and taxing does not hold up in the long run. Take a lesson from NJ and Long Island, building only leads to more building and higher taxes. The greenspace is more important and makes a positive statement of priorities. People over profits, cleaner air over more cars.
ReplyDelete"The greenspace is more important and makes a positive statement of priorities?"
DeleteWith one hundred twenty-five miles of entrapped eastern foreshore, controlled by the (Landlubbers) columbia land conservancy and scenic hudson, you want additional land use.
Hudson needs a littoral conservancy not more freeloaders blocking the poor man's pathway to the Faithful.
"freeloaders blocking the poor man's pathway to the Faithful." This describes the Furgary Club.
DeleteThe North Dock Tin Boat Association was a 100% member supported NFP and promoting access to county Navigators for free.
DeleteNever was there a need for lawyers, a swat team or fencing if the object is to promote the continuous historic public use.
What next Winslow, paid firemen?
DeleteThere is plenty of space here unused. The empty apartment building at 5th and Union the factory on N7th and Washington, The old factory land behind the ball field (wasnt there an offer to build housing there?). The waterfront district should be declared a no build zone. Certainly no more public or taxpayer subsidized (PILOT) housing.
ReplyDeleteThe Kaz site should be laid-out by a skilled planner, platted and sold as fee-simple lots for small-scale development that fits into our beautiful city . Everyone wins!
ReplyDeleteThe Kaz site should be laid out as a neighborhood by a skilled designer, platted and sold as Hudson-scale fee-simple lots to be developed by "normal people". There were no developers when the Quakers landed- they drew-up a plan with streets and sold everything that was in between. Hudson has the chance to change the way that cities view land development- especially small-scall historic ones. Why make big buildings here?
ReplyDeleteIf you make a neighborhood and sell it in increments, everyone wins. If you do a big development, you will lose the character of the waterfront and the spirit of Hudson the reason people come here in the first place.
Walter Chatham - that's exactly what I proposed for the asphalt parking lot at the waterfront - bring back the original street grid and make building lots available for houses and artisians to redevelop instead of a big box boring hospitality center . It grows the town honestly and sustainably.
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