MIDTOWN BUILDING NOW A LANDMARK
Federal status lets developer apply for historic tax credits
KINGSTON, N.Y. » The former Kingston Gas & Electric Co. building in Midtown has earned a federal designation as a historic landmark.
The building at 609 Broadway, between the Ulster Performing Arts Center and the site of the former King’s Inn, has been added to the National Register of Historic Places, which means the developer who’s renovating the structure, LA 609 Broadway Inc., is eligible for historic tax credits that can offset rehabilitation costs.
The three-story brick building, constructed in 1912, was home to Kingston Gas & Electric until 1945, according to an account compiled by historic preservation specialist Marissa Marvelli, who serves as vice chairwoman of the Kingston Historic Landmarks Preservation Commission.
Kingston architect Scott Dutton, who’s designing the building rehabilitation, said the landmark designation is important.
“The designation ... is most significant for me in that [it is] truly at the center of the Midtown corridor, on a block that contains UPAC and a number of turn-of-the-century properties that have enormous potential for redevel-
“Once restored, we believe that this site, that was once stigmatized by the unseemliness of the adjacent property where the former King’s Inn existed, will be a source of pride for the community and be a strong signal of vibrancy in Midtown.” — Scott Dutton, Kingston architect
opment,” Dutton said in an email Wednesday. “Once restored, we believe that this site, that was once stigmatized by the unseemliness of the adjacent property where the former King’s Inn existed, will be a source of pride for the community and be a strong signal of vibrancy in Midtown.”
The renovation plan calls for a total of eight one-bedroom apartments on the building’s second and third floors, occupying a total of 5,064 square feet. The first floor will be renovated to allow for 3,050 square feet to be rented out.
There also is to be a rooftop walkway that can be accessed by any of the apartment tenants, and an 750-square-foot art gallery is to be established in an attached building, Dutton has said.
Dutton said project should take eight or nine months to complete.
According to Marvelli’s accounting, Kingston Gas & Electric was incorporated on May 21, 1902, s a franchise of American Gas Co., to power the lights of Kingston and nearby towns.
“From 1912 to 1945, the building functioned as the administrative center for company managers and its sales force and as a retail store for home appliances,” Marvelli’s accounting says.
In 1919, American Gas sold the Kingston franchise to Poughkeepsiebased Central Hudson, which by then had developed an extensive network of transmission lines throughout the Mid-Hudson Valley.
In 1945, Central Hudson sold the Midtown Kingston building to a local appliance dealer.
In 1949, the building was bought by William O’Reilly, a businessman who dealt in office supplies. His store, which operated there until 1971, sold everything from furniture to typewriter ribbons.
More recently, the upper levels were subdivided into small apartments, and there’s a florist on the first floor.