Architect needs zone change for apartments
KINGSTON, N.Y. » A local architect and landlord wants to rezone a piece of property at the corner of Montrepose Avenue and West Pierpont Street in Downtown Kingston to make way for a 15unit apartment building that would contain mostly market-rate units, though two would be offered as “affordable housing.”
Andrew Wright told the Common Council’s Laws and Rules Committee during a virtual meeting last week that he has owned the 0.81-acre site at 2-16 Montrepose Ave. for “a long time” and that he first pitched the idea of building apartments there six or seven years ago. But “then the market went down, so we let it sit,” Wright said.
Now, though, there is a need for market-rate apartments with some affordable housing, Wright said. He said he wants to build 15 apartments with a community center and a small park on the property but needs the land rezoned to do so.
The property currently is zoned RRR, which is for single-family residences,
Wright said. He said, though, that the currently vacant land is immediately adjacent to the city’s Rondout District and surrounded on three sides by multi-family residences.
Wright asked lawmakers to consider expanding the boundary of the Rondout District’s RT zone to include his property.
Committee members were largely receptive to Wright’s development plan and endorsed a resolution that would refer the rezoning request to the city Planning Board and Historic Landmarks Preservation Commission and the Ulster County Planning Board for review.
All three of those bodies already have seen Wright’s plan, but the proposal has not yet been formally referred to them, said city Assistant Corporation Counsel Daniel Gartenstein. He said the council must formally refer the matter and await feedback from the planning boards and city commission before it can take action on the rezoning request.
The resolution to refer the request still must be voted on by the full council, which meets again next month.
In response to questions from Laws and Rules Committee members, Wright said the community center would be designed for use by tenants but also be accessible to the community at large. He said the park would be designed as a sitting and small gathering area, rather than as a place for playground equipment. He also said the project would include off-street parking with two of the spaces being set aside for electric vehicle charging stations.
The two affordable housing units would have one bedroom each and be offered through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s voucher program, project manager Sonia LemusWright told the committee.
The other units would have two bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms and laundry facilities.
Andrew Wright said his Wright Management Group owns and manages 30 apartments in Kingston and Port Ewen, including some market-rate units on Wall Street in Uptown Kingston.