HUDSON — The city could add 85 new affordable housing units across three sites here if a developer’s proposal to purchase the properties receives city approvals and federal and state money to fund the project.
The plan, if approved, would see development partners Kearney Realty & Development Group, a Somers affordable housing developer, and local housing nonprofit organization, Hudson River Housing, Inc., purchasing from the city a total of four vacant city lots located across the city for $450,000.
The project would include 21 units in a mixed-use residential and commercial building on State Street and 4th Avenue, which is currently a parking lot across from the former John L. Edwards School; 60 units in a Mill Street apartment complex, across from Charles Williams Park; and two 3-bedroom townhomes on Rossman Avenue, each featuring a 3-bedroom rental unit that would allow affordable home buyers to also become, potentially, first-time landlords.
“If all goes well, it will be a game changer for the City of Hudson and the area it will develop,” Mayor Kamal Johnson said in a phone interview Thursday.
Johnson has prioritized addressing the city’s affordable housing struggles since he took office in 2020, he added.
The Rossman Avenue townhome development is the only site that features adjoining lots, keeping with the city’s “scattered site” approach to reduce development density and maintain the city’s character, said Michelle Tullo, Hudson’s director of Housing Justice, who presented the proposal to the Council with Sean Kearney, vice president of Kearney Group, at its Sept. 20 regular meeting. All buildouts would utilize green building techniques, reduce reliance on automobiles and would add jobs and training for local residents, as specified in the city’s request for proposals.
The properties are assessed for much less than the purchase price, said Mayor Kamal Johnson in a phone interview, describing the Mills Street and Rossman Avenue sites as “less than ideal for development” due to their size and location. For instance, the Mills Street parcel, is situated on a flood plane across from Charles Williams Park, which is also the focus of a city improvement project, Johnson said. “So, we had to look for developers who are really going to … get these sites buildable.”
In total, the lots are currently assessed at $231,000, Tullo said in an email Thursday, well below what the development partners will pay for them. The parcels will be appraised before the land sale, she said.
For the commercial spaces in the mixed-use development proposed for State and 4th streets, developers are proposing an affordable daycare and a grocery or commercial kitchen, which they anticipate would create between 10 to 30 new full- and part-time positions. Kearney also discussed a Construction Workforce Plan component at the meeting that would offer local residents jobs and training during the project’s construction phase.
Individuals who earn between below 30 percent to above 110 percent of Columbia County’s adjusted median income (AMI) would be eligible for the units, except for the townhome owners, who would be required to earn at least 80 percent AMI.
A single-person household at 30 percent of AMI in Columbia County is earning approximately $14,900 annually with an affordable housing cost limit of $373 a month, with utilities included, according to HUD rent and income limits supplied by the city in its proposal. On the other end of the spectrum, a single-person household at 110 percent of AMI is bringing in a salary of $62,100 annually and would pay a rent of $1,497 a month.
In terms of taxes, Kearney and Hudson River Housing is proposing a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) agreement with the council, paying $100,000 per year for the rental units, increasing 2 percent a year, for 30 years.
State and federal agencies would look more favorably on the project when they applied for funding in the spring, under this tax structure, Kearney said during the meeting. Under these terms, the city would receive equal if not more tax revenue, according to the proposal. This method will also help the development team create predictable financial forecasts in order to secure their funding.
The plan is expected to go before the city’s Planning Board this winter or spring. Johnson said there would be multiple opportunities for the community to offer input and feedback on the project.
