New apartments receive go-ahead to provide city affordable option
Approval from Hudson Planning Board comes during rental crisis
Apartments that could house hundreds of people got the goahead from the Hudson Planning Board on Thursday night as the city struggles with an affordable housing crisis.
The buildings, which feature commercial spaces on their ground floors, will include 54 apartments considered either affordable or middle income, with rents set according to percentages of the county’s median income. Initial rents for these apartments are expected to range from $580 for a one-bedroom to $1,375.
The project would fulfill a major goal of first-term Hudson Mayor Kamal Johnson, who has pushed for solutions to displacement in the city. The project was also championed by Alderwoman Tiffany Garriga and the recently formed Hudson-catskill Housing Coalition. The apartment blocks will be built and managed by the Galvan Foundation, a nonprofit developer and the largest property owner in the city.
Johnson said it was “a win” for Hudson.
“I think that, right now, we’re in a tough situation, housingwise, in the city of Hudson, where the more popular Hudson gets, the more the cost of living increases.” he said. “(The project) gives us a chance — a little bit of breathing room — to get the many families who are living two-to-three families to a small apartment out of those situations and into their own apartment.”
Even before the pandemic pushed downstate residents to relocate to the Hudson Valley, Hudson’s rents were rising rapidly. The number of New York City residents who relocated to Columbia County, where Hudson
is the county seat, tripled in 2020, sending housing prices up 40 percent in one year, with rents following.
The project could have a significant impact on Hudson’s housing market simply because the city is so small. The project could hypothetically house more than 300 people in the city of 5,900.
The proposal can go forward after Hudson’s Planning Board approved the project’s site plan this week. This comes a month after they gave the project a “negative declaration,” stating it would not have significant harm on its surroundings, a decision that releases the nonprofit from having to go through a lengthier review.
The Planning Board requested some changes to the project during their process, including the widening of Seventh Street, which abuts the proposed buildings, so a dozen on-street parking spaces can be added. Galvan incorporated the suggestions into the project design.
The project received tax breaks through the city’s Industrial Development Agency, allowing Galvan to avoid $6.6 million in property taxes over 30 years, as well as getting breaks on sales and mortgage recording taxes. The IDA voted 4-2 in favor of the tax breaks after Galvan offered to shorten the breaks on one of the buildings from 25 years to 20, and after adjusting their definition of an affordable apartment to make the units less expensive.
Galvan plans to hire an outside construction firm to develop the apartment blocks. Galvan Vice President Dan Kent, who has ferried the proposal through the approval process, did not return requests for comment by press time.
Johnson said he wanted to continue working to provide affordable housing for city residents, including developing home-ownership initiatives.
“The work doesn’t stop here,” he said.