At the Hudson Industrial Development Agency (IDA) meeting on Monday, Mike Tucker, the administrative director, reported on the current ownership and leasing status of Hudson Depot Lofts, 76 North Seventh Street.
This recently completed apartment building is one of the properties that the Galvan Foundation is giving to Bard College. Although there has not yet been a closing on the transfer of ownership, there is an agreement in place that allows Bard to manage the property. Tucker reported that he had met with the person from Bard responsible for leasing the apartments in the building, who indicated that Bard had hired a leasing company to carry out the task. Tucker reported that the building is almost fully leased up, although Zillow still indicates there are 47 available units.
The IDA's interest in the building is clear. In 2021, the IDA approved a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) and other financial benefits for the construction of this building with the understanding that the building would provide "workforce housing" at two income tiers: up to 80 percent of area median income (AMI) and up to 130 percent of AMI. Of the 64 units in the building, only 12 were designated for the lower income level; the other 52 units are designated households with incomes between 80 and 130 percent of the AMI. At that level, the rents start at $2,275 for a one-bedroom unit, $2,775 for a two-bedroom, and $3,400 for a three-bedroom.
The 12 apartments meant to the lower income bracket were leased quickly. Not so the other 52 units. Tucker explained, as he has before, that the combination of the credit requirements and the income cap "makes for a very small band of eligibility." There is a contingency in the PILOT agreement that allows apartments to be rented to people with incomes above the 130 percent AMI cap if eligible tenants cannot to found within the income limits, but Tucker said Bard was committed to maintaining the income levels and suggested they might consider lowering the rents to make them more affordable. He also suggested the people from Bard involved in managing the building might attend the next meeting of the IDA.
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Did anyone at Galvan consider the city economic demographic before constructing this building? City-Data lists 28% of residents living in poverty, median gross rent $1353, median household income 54K? I would think any weekender needing 3 bedrooms who can pay $3400 a month would buy a house. There aren’t many Hudson residents with two or more kids lining up to pay that. Lowering the rent seems like a good idea.
ReplyDeleteWasn’t Galvan granted the right to build this because they agreed to build a low income apartment building across the street, that was never constructed? On that basis alone the PILOT should be revoked, or the building converted entirely into low income apartments. The responsible thing for Bard to do would be to donate the property to the Housing Coalition, HHA or some other non-profit to manage as low income housing. That would create immediate needed housing and allow HHA to scale back it’s proposed downtown mega-expansion.
A couple of the units could even be used to get some of the homeless residents off the street. It is very unseemly for a town flaunting and catering to so much weekend wealth, to have homeless people begging for dollars on street corners, not to mention the ones living in motels.
Interestingly, the headline in the Rag Star this morning is that 75% of the units are vacant 11 months after opening.
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