Another Step Forward for 620 Union
So far, the hotel proposed for 620 Union Street has gotten approval in concept from the Historic Preservation Commission, based on such compatibility standards as size, scale, and character, and site plan approval from the Planning Board. On Tuesday, the project's application for a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) moved a step forward with the Hudson IDA (Industrial Development Agency).
The IDA board reviewed an amended application from the developer, David Kessler. The amendments consisted of changes in the applicant's address (Kessler is now a resident of Hudson) and in some of the development cost numbers "to reflect the passage of time." The project is seeking a PILOT agreement with a graduated payment schedule over eleven years. Alderman Tiffany Garriga (Second Ward), who chairs the IDA, asked, "What happens in Year 11, when the PILOT runs out?" Kessler told her the hotel would be "stabilized, up and running, and the income would support the [property] taxes."
The board unanimously passed an inducement resolution, which authorizes a public hearing on the PILOT. It was decided that the public hearing would not be scheduled until the cost-benefit analysis was available. That analysis is expected to be completed by the end of this week.
COPYRIGHT 2020 CAROLE OSTERINK
We don’t need another hotel! Also what about parking where are the folks so obsessed with parking?! Good grief
ReplyDeletePARKING will be the biggest issue Hudson will face very soon if these projects do not address the car problem. The question is, why is the obvious being ignored?
ReplyDeletePerhaps it's time to explore the possibility of building a two-level parking garage at the site of the present parking lot on Union Street. If the owners of the hotel agreed to rent spaces in a garage for guests at the hotel, it could be a source of long-term revenue for the city. Another option would be to create parking just down the block around the police station.
ReplyDeleteThe owners of the hotel did agree to rent spaces in the municipal lot as part of their presentation to the Planning Board, which was covered in a Gossips post on 19 July:
Delete"The board answered the questions on SEQR short form, made a negative declaration, and approved the project unanimously, with the condition that the developer, David Kessler, purchase thirty-one parking permits from the City of Hudson for offstreet parking, if they are available when the hotel receives its certificate of occupancy. (It should remembered that the Common Council amended the zoning code to do away with all offstreet parking requirements last year.)"
As to the notion that we don't need another hotel, and with the caveat that we shouldn't feed the troll, STR legislation is being worked on right now precisely because we don't have enough beds to accommodate visitors in the high season. If those beds go away and aren't replaced by hotel rooms, the tourism industry, and all the small businesses that rely on those visitors, and the local governments that rely on sales and lodging tax dollars to provide services, will suffer. No one should be participating in city government or civic conversation without having this very basic understanding of economics.
Winding back to the parking issue, the project at 620 Union, with only a ten-year PILOT, will provide jobs for locals as well as sales and lodging tax revenue, did make accommodation for parking (though who knows if visitors are arriving by car or train-gathering this data should be done by the Tourism Board, though they've shown little interest as a body in being informed about the industry's relationship to the community.) Galvan has made no such for its behemoth development in a similarly residential area-one of many outstanding issues that the CC seemingly intends to kick down the road.
The City Council, in its infinite wisdom and at the recommendation of the Planning Board, voted to do away with the requirement either last year of the year prior. Notwithstanding its own recommendation and its enactment by the legislature, the Planning Board forced the developer of this project to purchase 30 parking lot permits before it can open. So parking has been addressed by the City at least at some level (albeit in a questionable manner). Otherwise, a hotel is a permitted use in the zoning district and the City has no choice but to permit it subject only to the terms and conditions found in the City zoning code.
ReplyDeleteAnyone living on the 600 and 700 block of Union ought to be concerned about this hotel. Parking spots will be difficult to come by, especially on the weekends. B HUSTON
ReplyDeleteThe perfect solution to the parking problem would be to create a new municipal lot by the police station, remove the fence in front of the police station, and install ADA-compliant sidewalk on Union Street between the police station and the hotel. Problem solved!
ReplyDeleteHas anyone spoken to someone that owns one of the City's B&B's or hotels? I have (by sheer chance, to be honest). When I asked simply, "How's business?" the answer came back short and sweet (?) "Terrible". It seems CoVid has turned people off to traveling and, like most businesses in town, the lodging places are no different. Evidently weeks go by with little or no guests during a time when people had to be turned away. The person I spoke to equated the current situation with what happens in the Winter: no guests. So what is this hotel going to do when everyone else is empty? Maybe check with The Wick and find out how busy they are during the winter. While John Kane may be right about the high season (June to November), what about the remaining 6 months? Besides WinterWalk (which is really for locals, let's face it) what is there to do in the cold months? I told the person I was speaking to that I hoped things would get better. Based on future reservations it seems like they aren't.
ReplyDeleteWhen I spoke to a hotel owner recently, he laughed at the idea that people have in their heads that 'Hudson has arrived.'
DeleteHudson hotels do, or did a couple years ago and local lodging operators please correct me if I'm wrong, fill up on weekends and during the summer months. During the week and in the off-season, profit takes a nosedive. Think of a hotel like a commercial airplane. Every flight that fills all its seats is a money-maker. Every flight with only a handful of passengers still incurs most of the costs of the popular flight, but with a fraction of the revenue.
Attracting different kinds of tourists, whether midweek business travelers or another class of visitor, diversifies our visitor population, and helps increase income opportunities for people working in bars, restaurants, retail, and all the tourism-adjacent sectors of our economy.
The Wick’s business model was predicated I’m off season travel. This isn’t a new discovery (the seasonality of travel to Hudson) and the industry manages. Does business suck now? Sure does. Will it continue to? Perhaps. It’s a crap shoot for sure. But if an investor is willing to invest in it, and it’s a permitted use in the zoning district ... Commerce and free enterprise: foundational to The American way of life.
ReplyDelete