Today is the day voters in the Hudson City School District vote on whether or not to sell the former John L. Edwards school building to Pennrose Bricks & Mortar to be redeveloped as affordable apartments for seniors. The proposed purchase price is $2.15 million. The building has been vacant since 2018.
The polls open at 11:00 a.m. and stay open until 8:00 p.m. The polling places are:
- Hudson: Central Fire Station, 77 North Seventh Street
- Greenport: Greenport Community Center, 500 Town Hall Drive
- Claverack: A. B. Shaw Firehouse, 67 State Route 23
This is sad. It's like you entrusted a friend store a nicely maintained car for you and they left it out in the woods for years with the windows open--and now they want you to sell it for parts.
ReplyDeleteI am not that sentimental. It's a good use that promises to provide something that is actually needed in Hudson while eventually returning a property back onto the tax roll. Even with the PILOT involved in this, it's a win-win.
ReplyDeleteAll true, in it's current condition this is a reasonable option. It's just unfortunate it was allowed to deteriorate as the building was worth much more than 2 million. I'm sure the original calculus by the district was to recover quite a bit more than that, but I suppose it's not easy to sell an old school building.
DeleteAgreed! After the HDC did their due diligence, I figured nothing could be done with it. This is as good as an outcome as can be expected and the buyer seems to have their shit together and wants to move quick. The property was just a liability for the school district and an eyesore for the city.
DeleteHudson needs? Hudson needs? No. The county may need it but I’m not sure Hudson does. Perhaps we can locate it on Wortman Square? Or in Kinderhook.
DeleteYou can never predict when the next Friedman broadside hits you, friendly fire included. 😊
DeleteI think I even understand why you are saying this. Part of me agrees, and at the same time disagrees: There is a need in Hudson to provide some sort of pathway that allows normal people, and that especially includes seniors in its most generic sense, to continue to live in Hudson.
That pathway then also needs to exist for non-seniors, and maybe even more so as those would be part of the active workforce more so than seniors.
And then there's another rail here that must be built: That of sustainable jobs that pay significantly more than minimum wage.
The to-do list is long. The JL Edward project at least addresses one of those many rails.
DeleteMax, you miss the point completely or simply choose to misdirect the conversation. As someone on the cusp of senior citizenship, married to a senior, it’s not an academic issue. Old folks like to live indoors as much as you young people (wink).
But why must it be in Hudson? Why must the few households that actually are in Hudson pay for this when the rest of the county — which is lousy with seniors — is exempt from the costs? Build it on Wortman Square or on Albany Ave in Kinderhook, somewhere in Ghent or Chatham. Anywhere but here. When was the last time Greenport adopted a PILOT? Or even paid its fair share of the shared library’s costs?
It’s time for the county and the towns to stop nursing on Hudson’s tit.
I think you are misrepresenting what that project is and entails. The few taxpayers left in Hudson are currently carrying the burden of this entirely unproductive building that in addition to not generating property taxes is also a ticking timebomb in that it contains 10,000 gallons of diesel in a tank in the ground.
DeleteAs a member, you are aware of what the HDC concluded when looking at that property. You folks noped out pretty hard.
So then, what should the plan be if you didn't think that a private developer, albeit under an aggressive 30-year PILOT, developing this into some sort of housing was beneficial for the city coffers?
The way I see it is that there is currently zero opportunity cost associated with this proposal since it is the only one that exists. It seems that it will provide some revenue, both to the city as well as the school district which additionally receives a nice one-time lump of money.
What are your specific concerns here, John?
The City of Hudson, and its taxpayers, are not responsible. The HCSD and its tax payers are. That's a larger universe than the former. So you and your neighbors can once again coast on our Hudson coattails. Isn't time for you all to play grown-up and pony up?
DeleteHow are we, by which I presume you mean the residents of the towns of the HCSD, coasting on Hudson's coattails here? The building is situated in the City of Hudson and we will not airlift it out.
DeleteWhat I really don't understand is how this plan somehow benefits Greenport but not Hudson. There's nothing in there that interests us and I do not expect Greenport seniors to move into it either.
It seems you would have preferred it stayed with the school district. Why?