Thursday, April 25, 2024

The Evolution of the "Depot District"

Earlier today, this photograph of the construction in progress at 76 North Seventh Street appeared on Facebook.

Photo courtesy Michael Weaver
The picture inspired me to revisit a post from a couple of months ago: "The Naming of Projects." That in turn inspired me to check if the website HudsonDepotLofts.com, which at that time was only a secured domain name, was up and running. It is. And here are a couple of images from that website.


Readers are encouraged to explore the website, which provides this description of Hudson Depot Lofts: 


It will be remembered that 76 North Seventh Street, the Depot District building on the east side of the street, was originally proposed as market rate apartments. Because the Common Council and the Industrial Development Agency (IDA) questioned the appropriateness of granting a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) to a market rate apartment building, the building was redefined as "workforce housing," for households with incomes from 80 to 130 percent of the area median income (AMI). Although the website, which describes the location of the building as the "Cultural, Artisanal, Artistic Capital of the Hudson Valley," somehow doesn't make it seem as though the building should be qualifying for tax abatements, the building has a twenty-year PILOT.

Regarding the building proposed for the opposite side of the street, the one in this "mixed income development" meant for households with incomes between 40 and 80 percent of AMI, the project has twice tried and twice failed to get funding from New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR). It is rumored, but Gossips has not yet been able to confirm, that the project has been disqualified for HCR funding because three houses on the site were demolished, eliminating four dwelling units, before funding for the new building had been secured.

COPYRIGHT 2024 CAROLE OSTERINK
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5 comments:

  1. SlowArtApril 26, 2024 at 5:34 PM

    After taking a walk down what was once a quiet street of residential houses, a more apt title heading would be "The Devolution of 7th Street."

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  2. PeteApril 26, 2024 at 9:09 PM

    Just another reminder of how short our memories are.

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  3. WowserApril 28, 2024 at 10:13 AM

    Is there any way to reverse/cancel the PILOT? They said they were building one thing and turned around and built something else.

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    1. Carole OsterinkApril 28, 2024 at 12:33 PM

      It can't be said that they are not building what they said they would build. But they don't seem to be marketing the building as "workforce housing." The test will be when they start leasing the apartments. Are they being leased to people with incomes between 80 and 130 percent of the AMI? If that's not the case, I believe the PILOT can be revoked.

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  4. Union JackApril 29, 2024 at 4:02 PM

    To add further to the last paragraph... if I heard correctly, during a council meeting a couple of months ago, when asked about the project, Prez Tom mentioned off the cuff that since Galvan was denied the HCR funding, they would be returning to the IDA to ask for a new PILOT for the other side of the street. If that's correct, let's hope they get a big fat "no" so they can fully finance their boutique lofts on their own and pay taxes, like the rest of us do.

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