The Depot District and the IDA: A Status Report

On Tuesday, the Hudson IDA (Industrial Development Agency) passed two resolutions: one accepting the PILOT application for 75 North Seventh Street; the other accepting the PILOT application for 708 State Street. The resolutions reflected the amendments the Galvan Foundation has made to the applications since they were initially submitted.

Of interest in the resolution for 75 North Seventh Street are these paragraphs:

WHEREAS, the Application proposes that 34 units would be leased with rents affordable for households earning up to 50% of the Columbia County HUD Area Median Income (AMI), 20 units would be leased with rents affordable for households earning up to 80% of the Columbia County HUD Area Median Income (AMI), 21 units would be leased with rents affordable for households earning up to 130% of the Columbia County HUD Area Median Income (AMI), preference would be available for applicants who occupy a unit as their sole residence, and the 4 commercial spaces would include a preference for minority and/or women owned businesses, and the Project is to be developed in conjunction with an adjacent project proposed to be developed by a related party to the Sponsor as part of a “Depot District” which would share a 40 space parking facility at 602 Washington Street not subject to the proposed PILOT Agreement; and

WHEREAS, the Application requests a 30 year PILOT equal to the greater of 10% of the Shelter Rent, defined as total net rental income less utility expenses in a given year, or $54,285 per year; . . .

The comparable paragraphs in the resolution for 708 State Street are these: 

WHEREAS, the Application proposes that 12 units would [be] leased with rents affordable for households earning up to 80% of the Columbia County HUD Area Median Income (AMI) and 51 units would [be] leased with rents affordable for households earning up to 130% of the Columbia County HUD Area Median Income, and preference would be available for applicants who occupy a unit as their sole residence, the Project is to be developed in conjunction with another project proposed to be developed by a related party to the Sponsor as part of a “Depot District” which would share a 40 space parking facility at 602 Washington Street; and

WHEREAS, the Application requests a 25 year PILOT with a 75% exemption in years 1 through 10, with the exemption decreasing 5% each year thereafter for the term of the PILOT; . . . 

Now that the applications have been accepted, the next step is to do the financial analysis, which will compare the cost of the project in foregone taxes to the benefits it offers the community. That analysis will be done by BJH Advisors LLC. One of the partners of that firm is Kei Hayashi, who was formerly the executive director of the New York City IDA. The financial analysis needs to be completed before the IDA can schedule a public hearing on the project.  

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