Preserving Affordable Housing

This morning, the four members of the Hudson Industrial Development Agency (IDA) Board present--Heather Campbell, city treasurer; Cheryl Kaszluga, city assessor; Richard Wallace, citizen member; and Randall Martin, representing the Planning Board--voted unanimously to approve a new PILOT agreement for Providence Hall and Schuyler Court. (Two members of the IDA--Dominic Merante, Council majority leader, and Ryan Wallace, Council minority leader--participated in the meeting on Zoom but could not vote because they were not physically present. Mayor Kamal Johnson was not present at the meeting either in person or on Zoom.)

The new PILOT agreement calls for an annual payment in lieu of taxes equal to 7 percent of the annual shelter rent. Gossips found the following definition of shelter rent on the website LawInsider.com: "Shelter rent means the total rents received from the occupants of the facility less the cost of providing to the occupants of the facility electricity, gas heat, and other utilities. Total rents shall include rent supplements and subsidies received from the federal government, the state, or a municipality on behalf of such occupants." In the presentation prior to the vote, it was revealed that in 2022, the last year of the existing PILOT, the amount paid in taxes for the two developments was $56,143. In the first year of the new PILOT as requested, which was 5 percent of shelter rent, the amount paid in taxes was estimated to be $121,424. The PILOT that was agreed to is 7 percent of shelter rent, which, by Gossips' calculation, brings the estimated payment in lieu of taxes to $157,394.

Campbell asked how the new PILOT could be more than twice as much as the old PILOT, when the old PILOT was 10 percent of shelter rent. She wanted to know if rents were going to increase. She was told they would, but not for the tenants. The increase would be in the subsidies.

On June 14, when the IDA held a public hearing on the project, there were no members of the public who wanted to ask questions or comment. Today, representatives of the Hudson/Catskill Housing Coalition (HCHC) were in attendance at the meeting on Zoom. One of them, Quintin Cross prefaced his questions about the project by recounting that HCHC had sent letters to residents of Providence Hall and Schuyler Court warning them that the buildings might be sold. Acknowledging that his issue might be with Arbor Management not K&R Preservation, the group purchasing the buildings and proposing the renovations, Cross said rumors of a sale has been denied, and there had been misinformation and efforts to discredit HCHC. He then asked if rents would increase and how the tenants' quality of life would be impacted by renovation work in their apartments. In response to the first question, he was told that rents might increase over time. If a tenant's income goes up, the rent goes up, and tenants are income-qualified every year. In answer to the second question, he was told they would create a hospitality area where tenants can take refuge when their apartments are being worked on, but they would be expected to leave their apartments for only a few hours at a time.

The renovation of Providence Hall and Schuyler Court is expected to cost a total of $23 million and to be completed by October 2024. Christine Chale, legal counsel to the IDA, pointed out today, as she has in previous meetings, that the combined 152 units at Providence Hall and Schuyler Court represent 30 percent of the city's current affordable housing stock.  

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