Sunday's "Meetings of Interest in the Week Ahead" mentioned a proposal for 11 Warren Street that is to get some preliminary review at the Planning Board meeting tonight. If you are curious to know what that proposal entails, you don't have to wait through what could be hours of the Planning Board meeting to find out. As luck would have it, Gossips just received the following announcement from the Galvan Foundation.
Galvan Foundation is pleased to announce plans for a mixed-use development at 11 Warren Street, in partnership with Benchmark Development. The project improves the streetscape and connectivity between Warren Street and the waterfront by replacing an unattractive and out-of-place building with a new mixed-use building designed to reflect the historic character of Hudson. The plans feature 24 one-bedroom apartments, 44 two-bedroom apartments and seven guest rooms, along with three retail spaces and a restaurant space at ground level, and underground parking.
The project furthers the goals set forth in the City of Hudson’s vision for the BRIDGE District as part of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI). The city was awarded a $10 million DRI Grant from New York State which seeks to reestablish the link between downtown and the waterfront with quality housing, economic development, and beautiful, transportation-oriented design. 11 Warren Street revitalizes the connection of Warren Street and Front Street, linking Hudson’s vibrant downtown to its waterfront parks and Amtrak station.
Benchmark Development is leading the development effort of securing local approvals and financing. Benchmark is an experienced development firm with expertise in mixed-use, hotel, adaptive re-use, student housing, and multi-family residential development in the Northeast. They are based in Great Barrington, MA.
It seems that Galvan is borrowing from the Trump playbook: throw so much crap City Hall's way that it overwhelms them, people don't read the details, and voila, Galvan gets their way.
ReplyDeleteI thought the same thing myself.
DeleteYet all those warehoused historic buildings molder away.
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ReplyDeleteBecause he has a (non)-profit motive.
DeleteThis concept seems to be restoring the "streetscape" of the whole block from 1st to Front St. the current building at this location is an eyesore that interrupts the flow of architecture and gives us little to like.
ReplyDeleteI think this sounds like a good addition to the Hudson Streetscape that will contribute to the rebuilding of lower Warren and the Downtown area. it will also contribute taxes and provide more retail space on vibrant Warren St. This seems like a thoughtful development. It is what the urbanists like Jane Jacobs advocated.
On an economic note, it will help Hudson.
As an addendum, if the building stores and apts are mostly market rate and the building is a taxpayer, even with some subsidies, that is what Hudson needs -- income and taxes to stay alive. Its hard to pay the bills, especially for small cities.
DeleteThe bottom line has to be the sustainability of any project: can it support itself and be an addition to the community and its economy, or will it be another bit of corporate welfare reliant on a constant stream of taxpayer funds to be built and maintained? If this is private money, seeking to redevelop a block in a sustainable and responsible manner, consistent with the balance of the City Code, then let 'em have at it and the best of luck to them.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see that building acquire an additional story or two. At present it looks like the world's largest convenience store. Also, the former Police HQ on Warren St. Would benefit from more height.
ReplyDeleteGalena's entire approach fills me with a sense of foreboding, I must say. Look at all of their other projects, including the N.7th debacle: false numbers, misleading presentations, inconsistent and frequently changing proposals...So, serious misgivings arise with the notion of trusting them with actual City Planning---redesigning an entire block of Warren St. I'll admit that I harbor some Nimby motivation, as I live directly behind this block, on Union. But, nonetheless, a creative, intelligent solution clearly needs to be found for the problem of what to do with this huge space. Can't Hudson solicit other possible developers/entrepeneurs instead of once again simply folding to Galvan?
ReplyDeleteGalvan (or one of the Galway entities) owns the property. All the City can do is enforce the planning and building codes. And what makes you say the City is folding to anyone in this instance? The proposal is just that: a proposal. If you feel strongly about it, attend the relevant planning board meetings and bring your ideas.
DeleteThe initial typo notwithstanding, I have attended many planning board meetings, as well as other boards; but the experience doesn't really inspire much confidence, in terms of the city resisting what I perceive to be the overall malign influence of Galvan on Hudson. Your own comments have frequently made the same point.
DeleteActually, the "G" entities have a long history of folding under community pressure. No one needs approval to purchase property, however. So he buys, eventually proposes, folds under pressure, and the properties sit unused and unmaintained for the most part. The exceptions are the single and 2-3 family homes for which there is minimal planning oversight by design.
DeleteThe rendering is out of scale and like the renderings of the site on 7th is designed to make the proposed building look smaller. The number of floors and design is similar to the building on the corner of Front St. that looks taller in the rendering. It also does not show the proposed building on the corner of 1st.
ReplyDeleteLower Warren is a quiet historic neighborhood with some retail scattered discretely in some of the buildings. I would think something on this site would be better modeled after the houses on the other side of the street. The proposed building would alter the character of the neighborhood, increase population, noise and traffic in a very negative way. The rending is designed with some stylistic similarities to the building at #1 Warren, but there the similarity ends, overall a 68 unit apartment building is totally out of scale with anything on lower Warren Street.
Yup, another idea from Galvan that is out of scale and unrealistic with HUGE negative impacts for all of us living here. Of course, no one in management at Galvan lives in downtown Hudson, do they?!!
Deletehahaha "underground parking" good one.
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