KINGSTONIAN PROJECT

City seeks $3.8M in state aid for proposed hotel, housing, elevated walkway complex

A proposed Uptown hotel and apartment complex has an estimated pricetag of $48 million, including $1 million for an elevated walkway from the complex to Kingston Plaza, according to the city’s draft Strategic Investment Plan.

Contained in the plan are computer-generated images from Mackenzie Architects of Burlington, Vt., of what the hotel and housing project, known as the Kingstonian, will look like. The depicted views are from above Schwenk Drive and at street-level from North Front Street.

The project is one of 11 priority city projects targeted to receive part of the state’s $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative. The city is seeking $3.8 million in state funding for The Kingstonian complex.

The project was first announced in September, but no formal plans have been submitted to the city Planning Office, according to City Planner Suzanne Cahill. The Kingston Planning Board and other government oversight panels will have to conduct a review and approve plans before the project can be built, Cahill said.

“The (hotel) project site (the warehouse building) was once home to the Kingstonian Hotel; the original hotel building will be rebuilt and incorporated into the development to maintain some of the historic character of the site.” — city document

JM Development Group LLC, of New Windsor, in partnership with the Kingston-based Herzog Supply Co., are expected to undertake the development to include 132 residential units, 8,500 square feet of commercial space for restaurants and retail shops, a 34-room hotel, a proposed pedestrian plaza with an elevated walkway extending to Kingston Plaza, and a 420-space parking garage, with 250 spaces dedicated for public use.

Joseph A Bonura Jr., a principal of JM Development Group, said via e-mail Friday that the company is still working on final design plans and budgets. Her-

zog Supply Co., meanwhile, has moved its primary operations to Kingston Plaza from its warehouse at North Front and Fair streets.

“The (hotel) project site (the warehouse building) was once home to the Kingstonian

Hotel; the original hotel building will be rebuilt and incorporated into the development to maintain some of the historic character of the site,” the city document says.

The apartments and commercial spaces are expected to be built on the site of the former Uptown Parking Garage along North Front and

Fair streets, which is now a street-level municipal parking lot. The residential apartments will be a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom units.

“There are expected to be at least five restaurants and retail shops developed along (North) Front Street and along either side of the new pedestrian plaza,” the city document says.

In 2005, while the garage was still in use, the New Jersey-based Teicher Organization proposed building a 12-story, 214unit condominium tower on the site, along with commercial space and a parking structure, but the plan was met with strong objections in the community and ultimately was withdrawn.

SOURCE: MACKENZIE ARCHITECTS P.C. AND JM DEVELOPMENT GROUP LLC IMAGE This provided image shows a view of an apartment and commercial complex, left, and The Kingston, a hotel, from North Front Street looking west at Fair Street in Kingston, N.Y.

SOURCE: MACKENZIE ARCHITECTS P.C. AND JM DEVELOPMENT GROUP LLC IMAGE This image shows a bird’s eye view of The Kingstonian project, including an elevated walkway, from Schwenk Drive at Fair Street in Kingston.