E SQUARE RISING
Construction of affordable housing complex in Midtown is underway
Construction of the Energy Square affordable housing complex has begun on Cedar Street in Midtown.
“The project is roughly 10 percent complete. Site excavation, basement footings and basement walls have been completed,” said Chris Smailer, project manager for of Dutton Architecture. “The remainder of the concrete footings will be complete in mid-September, with structural steel starting shortly thereafter.”
The five-story, 57-unit building, commonly referred to as E Square, is being developed by Kingston-based affordable housing agency RUPCO.
“The project has been ad-
“Site excavation, basement footings and basement walls have been completed.” — Chris Smailer, project manager for of Dutton Architecture
vancing well,” Smailer said. “We didn’t run into any surprises during excavation, and the weather has been favorable for the foundation work.”
Smailer gave credited for the smooth sailing to general contractor Affordable Housing Concepts, civil engineering firm Brinnier & Larios, RUPCO, and the state Office of Housing and Community Renewal, as well as his own firm.
“[They] have been working diligently to keep
things running smoothly and on schedule,” he said.
E Square is being built at 20 Cedar St. on the site of the former Mid-City Lanes bowling alley, which closed in 2014 and was torn down this past June.
Excavation work for the E Square building began in July.
E Square is to be a 70,000-square-foot building comprising two threestory sections, one fourstory section and one five-story section. Its apartments will range in size from studio to three bedrooms.
The first floor of the building is to be occupied
by commercial enterprises and civic tenants, while the building’s roof will have an urban park and a 160-kilowatt solar energy array — the reason for the Energy Square name.
The project has an estimated cost of $22.6 million and is expected to be completed in the fall of 2019.
The state has awarded RUPCO $6.3 million in tax credits for E Square. The project also will benefit from a 32-year paymentin-lieu-of-taxes, or PILOT, deal that sets how much RUPCO will pay to the city of Kingston, the Kingston school district and Ulster County.