Former Family Court site would service hotel
Developer’s plans for structure include laundry, cleaning and kitchen facilities
A New York City developer plans to use the former Ulster County Family Court facility as a service center and administrative building in connection with four Uptown hotel locations.
Nan Potter, of Potter Realty Properties, who represents developer Charles Blaichman, said the 16 Lucas Ave. building will not be another hotel site.
Rather, she said, the more than 20,000 squarefoot-building would be used for laundry, cleaning and kitchen services, as well as offices for the Uptown hotel locations.
The site will also be used for guest parking, she added.
Potter said it is likely those uses would take place in the building for at least the next two years as the court moves.
Ulster County is moving its Family Court operations from that formerly leased space to the county-owned Business Resource Center on Ulster Avenue in the town of Ulster in response to increasing pressure from the state Office of Court Administration, which called the current facility “wholly inadequate.”
In all, Blaichman or a company he is affiliated with has purchased buildings at 301 Wall St., 41 Pearl St., 24 John St. and 270 Fair St., all steeped in history.
All but the proposal for 24 John St. has garnered approval from the city’s Planning Board.
The sites are all part of one hotel, but it does not have a name yet, Potter said.
All told, there are to be 43 rooms spread out through the four boutique hotel locations.
Potter said Blaichman purchased the Lucas Avenue building for $1.1 million at the end of December.
The building sits on 1.5 aces, she added.
According to the city’s Planning Office, it is likely the project at the Lucas Avenue facility will need some kind of Planning Board approval.
Blaichman or his business group own several other properties in the city, including the former Bank of America building in Midtown.
The group has purchased 273 Wall St., a 12,000-square-foot building where a Citizens Bank branch is located; 275 Fair St., known as the Kingston Opera House; and 10 Crown St., formerly home to a restaurant called The Tappen, according to Potter.
At one time, Blaichman had designs on creating the Noah Hotel at the city’s waterfront. That project never materialized.