News from HHA

Last night at their monthly meeting, the Hudson Housing Authority (HHA) Board of Commissioners was updated on the progress of the redevelopment project by representatives from Mountco, HHA's development partner. Eu Ting-Zambuto, director of development for Mountco, who attended the meeting on Zoom, reported that the state has reviewed the master plan. She also revealed that the master plan involved 300 units. (There are currently 135 units in Bliss Towers and Columbia Apartments.)

Ting-Zambuto expressed gratitude for the support the project was getting from "the City of Hudson, as well as the mayor's office." It was not clear who was meant by "the City of Hudson." She indicated that the City would be supporting an application for Restore New York funding for HHA's redevelopment project. It will be recalled that last month, City Hall made an appeal for eligible projects, citing the City's past success in obtaining Restore New York grants: $500,000 for the Dunn Warehouse in 2017; $1.3 million for the Crescent Garage in 2022; $1.5 million for the Kaz Development Project in 2023.

Nick Zachos, who serves on the HHA board, asked if there was a history of housing authorities getting money through Restore NY. Ting-Zambuto said there was an affordable housing component. John Madeo, executive vice president for development and general counsel for Mountco, who was present at the meeting, said he was not aware of any housing authorities receiving Restore NY funding. 

It is not entirely clear what the income limitations will be for the 300 units HHA is proposing. Ting-Zambuto said that HHA is now a "break-even housing authority," and she proposed HHA could operate better with higher rents on some apartments. She mentioned incomes of 40, 50, and up to 80 percent of AMI (area median income) possibly being allowable.

Although the first application for funding for the project has been submitted, no plans for what the proposed buildings will look like have been made public. Apparently, some design exists. Madeo told the board that over the course of the next month they would be getting "feedback from the state about the design"--"the state" presumably being NYS Homes and Community Renewal. He suggested that the design for the buildings might be presented at HHA's May meeting, promising, "Things are going to start getting real exciting over the course of the next couple of months."

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