News from the Planning Board: Galvan

The final project before the Planning Board on Tuesday was the Galvan Foundation plan for North Seventh Street, now dubbed "The Depot District." What is being proposed is two buildings--one with 84 units that will rent at market rate, the other with 54 units with permanently affordable rents for low- and moderate-income households. The idea is to satisfy the goals of the Strategic Housing Action Plan by creating, with two buildings, "a mixed income neighborhood."

The building proposed for 75 North Seventh Street is the building with affordable rents: 34 units for households earning between $23,000 and $42,000 a year, with rents starting at $533; 20 units for households earning between $45,000 and $65,000 a year, with rents starting at $1,140.

The building proposed for 708 State Street is larger, with 84 market rate units. Fitness rooms are promised for both buildings, but the plan for this building includes an outdoor pool. 

 

Both buildings are adjacent to a historic district, and Galvan has hired Beth Selig, who is, according to her LinkedIn profile, an archaeologist, to handle "the consultation process with SHPO [State Historic Preservation Office]." At the Planning Board meeting last Tuesday, Selig talked about the evolution of Hudson's architecture and how the architectural styles, as the city progressed east from the river, reflect the development of the city. She asserted that the proposed buildings "continue the ongoing evolution of the city and its architecture." 

Walter Chatham, formerly the chair of the Planning Board and now the architect for the project, presented these drawings to demonstrate that the proposed buildings were compatible in mass and scale with buildings that already exist in the neighborhood.

The first row of drawings above depicts (from left to right) the Pocketbook Factory, the Sixth Street School (now a county office building), the south side of the building proposed for 75 North Seventh Street, and the south side of the building proposed for 708 State Street. Oddly, the old Hudson Orphan Asylum building, which Galvan demolished early in 2018, seems to have been included in the drawing. The second row of drawings depicts (from left to right) the former Community Theatre building (now or soon to be owned by Galvan), a cluster of buildings that includes the no longer existing orphanage building, the former Canape garage (now owned by Galvan) with the Sixth Street School in the background, the building proposed for 75 North Seventh Street, and the Pocketbook Factory. 

In his presentation, Chatham said the design for 708 State Street had been inspired by 501 Union Street. 

Chatham told the board that this neighborhood was "the most logical area in the city for larger buildings" and predicted this project would "look like it's been there for a long time."

As was the case with the 77-unit building Galvan had originally proposed for 75 North Seventh Street, there is no plan to accommodate tenants' parking beyond six designated handicapped spots along the north side of the building proposed for 708 State Street. The expectation is that the tenants will find places to park on the street or they will park in the municipal lot on Columbia Street, which is reported to be 90 percent vacant overnight. 

Not only is the parking lot a five minute walk from the two buildings, it is currently the site of the Hudson Farmers Market. If this use of the lot continues, tenants living in the proposed new buildings will have to get up early on Saturday mornings to move their cars out of the lot before the market opens.

The two building projects are expected to move ahead simultaneously, but they will have "separate funding strategies." The project will be applying to the IDA (Industrial Development Agency) for financing. The application is expected to be presented to the IDA at its February meeting. A fifteen-month construction period is anticipated, for completion in 2023.

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