Hudson Depot Lofts Discussed at IDA

Hudson Depot Lofts, the Galvan apartment building nearing completion at 76 North Seventh Street, was a topic of discussion at this morning's meeting of the Hudson Industrial Development Agency (IDA)--in particular, whether the process of renting the apartments in the building is in compliance with the terms of the PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreement.

It will be recalled that the building is intended for households in two income categories: up to 80 percent of area median income (AMI) and up to 130 percent of AMI. There were originally 63 apartments in the building, but recently a 64th apartment was added when it was decided to turn what had been intended to be storage space into a two-bedroom apartment. Of the 64 apartments, only 12 are reserved for households with incomes up to 80 percent of AMI.

At this morning's IDA meeting, Margaret Morris, Common Council majority leader, questioned whether the anticipated rents to be charged were actually affordable for households with incomes of 80 percent of AMI. Using available information about the AMI in Columbia County, Morris calculated that an affordable rent (30 percent of income) would be $1,578 for one person, $1,800 for two people, $2,028 for three people, $2,253 for four people, and $2,435 for five people. 

Morris pointed out that, according to a brochure provided by Galvan, which indicates that rents for one-bedroom apartments start at $2,275, two-bedroom apartments start at $2,750, and three-bedroom apartments start at $3,300, none of the apartments would be affordable to people in the 80 percent AMI tier.

The information about rent prices provided on Zillow, however, does indicate rent that would be affordable to households with incomes at 80 percent of AMI.

Morris also noted that nowhere on the Hudson Depot Lofts website is it indicated that the building has income limits. Could it be that the website was designed to appeal to people with incomes closer to 130 percent of AMI?

Zillow, however, provides this information under the heading "Property's criteria."

During the discussion, the statement made by Eric Baxter, vice president of Baxter Construction Management, and reported by Roger Hannigan Gilson in the Times Union was brought up:

The apartments will initially be marketed and rented to people in the AMI brackets, Baxter Vice President Eric Baxter said. He called renting to these people the "priority," but said the rentals will be opened up to people of any income level if they are not snatched up by the intended groups.

What wasn't mentioned was that on May 13, Charles Gottlieb, attorney for Galvan, in presenting the plan to add another two-bedroom apartment at 76 North Seventh Street, told the Planning Board, "Applications are still coming in for affordable units, market rate units. . . ." There aren't supposed to be any market rate units in the building.

At this morning's IDA meeting, it was decided that Mike Tucker would contact Dan Kent to request an immediate written report on how the apartments at 76 North Seventh Street are being marketed, and a special meeting of the IDA would be scheduled to investigate further if the process of leasing the apartments is in compliance with the PILOT agreement.

As a little aside, the listing on Zillow indicates that it was placed by Galvan Housing Resources, the Galvan entity that manages all the properties taken over from Housing Resources of Columbia County in what started out as a collaboration. 

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