Wednesday, May 3, 2023

RFP Issued for the Dunn Warehouse

Today, May 3, the City of Hudson issued a request for proposals (RFP) for the Dunn warehouse, the city's only surviving industrial building immediately adjacent to the waterfront, across the street from Henry Hudson Riverfront Park.


The RFP, which can be found here, begins with this statement, highlighted in yellow and printed in red and black. (The colors of type, as well as the underscoring, have been reproduced here, but not the yellow background.)
The City of Hudson is seeking to LEASE OR SELL the Dunn Warehouse Building and property to a qualified investor-developer and will provide funding to the selected developer in an amount over $1 million dollars of NYS Downtown Revitalization Initiative Award funds to assist in the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of the former Dunn Warehouse Building as outlined within this Request for Proposals.
A cursory reading of the RFP suggests that the property included is only the land immediately surrounding the Dunn warehouse and not the three City-owned parcels along Water Street between the Dunn warehouse and the Ferry Street Bridge.

In March 2020, the City issued a request for expression of interest in the redevelopment of the Dunn warehouse. The only response received came from Bonacio Construction in Saratoga Springs. In subsequent discussion with Bonacio, it was revealed that Bonacio was also interested in the three vacant City-owned parcels, explaining the "the additional parcels would be needed to round out the Dunn redevelopment site and make a potential investment viable." 

The RFP is vague about exactly what the City is looking for in the redevelopment of the Dunn warehouse, making only this statement:
The City of Hudson desires a project that will leverage location, the historic character of the building, the City’s many assets and create economic activity and a new attraction located at the majestic Hudson River waterfront. 
Responses to the RFP are due on June 8, 2023.
COPYRIGHT 2023 CAROLE OSTERINK

8 comments:

  1. Golly, I hope it becomes a brewery! We need another one!

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    1. Yes, golly gee wilikers, we do need more industries that provide taxes and jobs, like brewing - one of Hudson's oldest industries. It's a real industry where they, ya know, make stuff, package it, and ship it out of town to be sold. Yes, modern breweries also include tasting rooms where you can enjoy the product on site. Some people around here could use a drink, or not.

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  2. Brewery? Event space? Hotel? Hudson is desperately in need of them all!

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  3. I appreciate your sarcasm, we all know Hudson had enough breweries and event spaces. What Hudson really needs is a homeless shelter and more low income housing. The Dunn building is perfect for this as the residents will be able to use the park for coffee and cigs without changing out of their pajamas.

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  4. I'll be long dead and gone before anyone ever finishes that old warehouse. Soon it will just be an ole pile of brick and a memory in Gossips!

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  5. The first floor of that building is about 4 feet below the 100 year Base Flood Elevation and 6 feet below the code-mandated Design Flood Elevation. This is not a building that easily lends itself to being developed for finished spaces on the ground floor.
    The recently completed "Hudson Climate Adaptive-Design Phase II Final Preliminary Design Report" gathered input from the community on the design of the riverfront park and included the Dunn building. I don't believe anyone asked for the building to be leased or sold to a private entity. The common thread amongst the comments was for the building be a public space on the waterfront.

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  6. it is unlikely that a developer is going to pay over 1 million dollars for the shell of a building in a flood plain, with perhaps contamination issues.

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    1. Just to clarify, the developer is going to GET more than $1 million from the City in DRI funds.

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