Kingstonian developers rebut critics
On ‘Fiction vs. Fact’ website, they defend rental rates, garage plan, PILOT request
KINGSTON, N.Y. » The developers of the proposed Uptown residential/commercial project known as The Kingstonian have launched an online counterattack against those who oppose the plan and tax breaks that would benefit it.
On the website kingstoni-anny.com/fiction-vs-fact, one of the contentions challenged by the developers — Kingstonian Development LLC and Herzog Supply Co. — is that the project will be a luxury complex apartment complex unaffordable to Kingston residents.
The Kingstonian “would include a mix of studio, 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom apartments,” the developers wrote, noting that “129 of the units will be market rate (what the market will bear), and 14 units will be affordable.”
The developers said the market-rate one-bedroom apartments will cost $1,650 to $1,750
per month, and the twobedroom apartments will go for $2,200 per month. Among the “affordable” units, studios will cost $475 to $875 per month, and onebedroom apartments will be rented for $774 to $1,064, they said.
According to the most recent U.S. Census data, from 2018, the median annual household income in Ulster County was $63,348.
“The 2019 income numbers will be posted soon and are expected to be higher, making The Kingstonian units affordable for an average couple,” the developers said. “It is also important to point out that The Kingstonian rental rates shown are comparable with those of existing apartments in the area.”
The developers said opponents of the proposal are using the word “luxury” to inflame people.
Affordable units
The Kingstonian — which would straddle Fair Street Extension between North Front Street and Schwenk Drive — is expected to cost $60 million to build and comprise the 143 apartments, plus 8,000 square feet of retail space, a 32-room boutique hotel, a pedestrian plaza, a footbridge crossing Schwenk Drive between the new development and Kingston Plaza, and a 420-space parking garage.
The developers, in their online posting, hit back at criticisms that they simply added affordable units rather than make the market-rate portion of the complex more affordable.
“The Kingstonian development team did, indeed, add 14 affordable units to the project at the request of city officials,” the posting says. “In our ongoing effort to provide something for everyone in the project, we were able to offset some of the financial impact by adding additional units in the rear of the building. This is in keeping with the mayor and Common Council’s initiative to have all housing projects include at least a 10 percent affordable component.”
Also, the developer said:
• The affordable units will be spread out throughout the complex, and only they and the renters of those units will know their locations.
• The affordable units cannot be switched to market rate at any time.
Garage, PILOT
The developers also take issue with the claim by opponents that most of the parking spaces in a garage at The Kingstonian will be for residents, rather than the public.
“Replacing the desperately needed parking garage [which used to stand on part of the site where The Kingstonian is to be built] is not the agenda of one mayor but an ongoing citywide concern that community leaders have sought a solution to since the original garage was required to be torn down in 2008,” the online posting says. “The challenge has been not burdening taxpayers with the additional cost of over $1 million per year to bond and rebuild the garage themselves.”
The garage, according to the developers, “is viewed as a critical component to support the economic wellbeing of businesses within the city’s important sales tax-generating district, and the project will also deliver over 300 additional consumers to the Uptown market on a daily basis.”
The developers said the only way the parking portion of the project can come to fruition without increasing the tax burden on city residents is for a paymentin-lieu-of-taxes, or PILOT, agreement to be reached.
“This PILOT would allow ... [the] developer to offset the losses of building, maintaining and operating a parking garage for 25 years,” the posting says.
Without the PILOT deal, “the project stops,” the developers say. “Everything remains status quo — no new parking garage, no new housing, no public restrooms, no new jobs, and no new sales and tax revenue. “
Parking rates
The Kingstonian’s parking garage is to have 420 spaces, of which 143 will be reserved for tenants, leaving 277 spaces for public use, twice the number of spaces currently available in the parking lot where the city garage used to stand, according to the developers.
Critics say parking rates will be set by the developers and be higher than those charged for metered spaces nearby, and that appears to be true.
Parking in the city’s metered space costs 25 cents per 15 minutes, or $1 per hour. The rates in the garage at The Kingstonian, which the developers say were decided “in conjunction with city officials,” will be $1.50 per hour or $60 for a one-month permit..
“The developers are committed to keeping the rates at an amount people can afford and have stated their willingness to continue to work with city officials to create a mechanism to ensure this happens,” the posting says.
Finances
The developers also take issue with allegations that they are hiding financial information about investors in the project.
“This is absolutely false and quite honestly offensive, as the developers have been open, transparent and cooperative throughout the entire process,” the posting says. “The developers have willingly shared the project’s financial information to those elected officials of the various boards who have the responsibility of assuring the community that projects like The Kingstonian will provide opportunity and value to our community.”
Lawsuits
The developers, in their online posting, also responded to lawsuits filed by opponents of the project, including one that challenges the city Planning Board ruling that The Kingstonian would not have a significant impact on the environment. (The board has not yet granted final approval for The Kingstonian to be built.)
“One of the intentions of filing suits like this is to intentionally delay projects as long as possible in the hopes the developer will walk away,” the posting says. “In the unlikely event any of the challenges are successful, the project would simply be delayed until such time as the deficiencies are corrected.
“As such, there is no need, nor would it be appropriate, for governing bodies to delay unrelated approvals deemed necessary to move the project forward,” the posting adds. “This would only placate the questionable motives of an out-of-town developer (Neil Bender), whose properties are widely represented by vacant storefronts, by complying with his outrageous demands when legal protections already exist.”
Among legal challenges to The Kingstonian are ones filed on behalf of limited liability corporations, mostly controlled by Bender, that own Uptown properties at 61 Crown St.; 311, 314, 317, 323 and 328 Wall St.; and 63 N. Front St.
“Our community has to question the motives of any individual or organization that would file a lawsuit against not just city and state agencies, but also the Kingston Uptown Business Association, an ... organization whose mission is to create, sustain and maximize a vibrant, connected community,” the posting says.