The Hudson Community Development and Planning Agency (HCDPA) meeting on Wednesday provided a reminder that HCDPA has an agreement to sell two properties to the Hudson Housing Authority: the lot at the corner of Second and Columbia streets, which is currently used as a community garden, and the lot at the corner of Warren and Front streets, an Urban Renewal-era park fondly dubbed in recent years "Promenade Prospect Park."
In October 2024, HCDPA agreed to sell the two parcels to HHA for 50 percent of their fair market value. The fair market value was established by appraisals that determined the value of the Columbia Street parcel to be $170,000 and the Warren Street parcel to be $200,000. Hence, HHA will pay $85,000 for the Columbia Street parcel and $100,000 for the Warren Street parcel. HHA's plan was to build townhouses on both parcels.
At one point, it seemed the construction of townhouses on both site was part of Phase 1 of HHA's redevelopment plan, but it seems only the plan for townhouses on Columbia Street is part of Phase 1. This is what is proposed for that site: a block of four three-story townhouses.
Although rarely mentioned anymore, it seems HHA is still interested in acquiring the lot at the end of Warren Street. Perhaps constructing something on that parcel is part of HHA's plan for Phase 2, along with demolishing Bliss Towers and Columbia Apartments and constructing another apartment building with a hundred or more apartments on current Bliss Towers site.
Back in 2020, Betsy Gramkow, who was then chair of the Planning Board and served ex officio on the HCDPA board, suggested that low-income housing at Warren and Front streets would not be "the highest and best use" of the lot and that a mixed-use building on the site, with market-rate rental units, would increase the city's tax base. Many in Hudson would agree with Gramkow. It is worth noting that when the agreement with HHA was made, Theresa Joyner chaired the Planning Board and served ex officio on the HCDPA board.
If HHA were to build townhouses on the site, it would complete the streetwall and return that corner to something resembling what it was before Urban Renewal.
Also, because this location is in a locally designated historic district, the design for the building(s) would require a certificate of appropriateness from the Historic Preservation Commission.
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