At an Ulster County Regional Chamber of Commerce breakfast last month, County Executive Pat Ryan said the long-rumored move of the Farm Bridge co-packing operation from TechCity to the Hudson Valley Mall was “not 100 percent final yet, but it’s pretty close.”
But Town of Ulster Supervisor James E. Quigley this week said it was still too soon to plan a ribbon-cutting ceremony. (Contacted this week, Farm Bridge CEO Jim Hyland declined comment.)
“The town is fully supportive of an adaptive reuse of the Hudson Valley Mall to uses that we don’t currently have up there,” Quigley said. “That being said, as to the announcement by the county executive, there has been no application made to the Town of Ulster Planning Department to validate his statement.”
Quigley added that Ryan’s statement surprised him because any move within the Town of Ulster would have to go through municipal channels.
“I was taken aback based upon what I knew by the county executive’s announcement,” he said. “As the supervisor of the town at this project is going to reside in we have not received an application from the mall’s owners to go before the planning board to facilitate a change in use.”
The Farm Bridge serves as a conduit between over 50 local farms and consumers, including food production, packaging of frozen and “shelf-stable” products, and bulk services. Also known as Farm to Table Co-Packers, Farm Bridge has occupied space at the beleaguered TechCity site in the Town of Ulster for a decade, operating a 30,000-square-foot kitchen with dedicated processing lines, and 8,000 square feet of storage space for refrigerated, frozen and dry goods. According to county officials, the move to the Hudson Valley Mall would see The Farm Bridge take over space in the former Sears, which closed nearly two years ago and has been vacant ever since.
This week, Ryan said businesses like The Farm Bridge and the potential for turning a portion of the Hudson Valley Mall into a food and agriculture hub align with Ulster 2040, a county-level focus on identifying and supporting industries that will help drive the regional economy over the next two decades and beyond.
“The first area that we’ve identified definitively is food in [agriculture], and that’s one that I’m personally very excited about for a bunch of reasons,” Ryan said. “It’s a long-standing historical strength area for us … and given our proximity to the biggest city in the country in New York City, we think that’s a really exciting combination to give us a competitive economic advantage … The point that I try to emphasize to people about the key things here is that we want to invest in areas where we feel we have real differentiated value as a county and as a region. This is so at the core of that because of our agricultural roots and our proximity to these markets. And we have really great farmers.”
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his week, Quigley said the Town of Ulster is also hoping to help keep The Farm Bridge local, but stressed that nothing is set in stone. He added that he last connected with HVM owners the Hull Property Group two weeks ago after hearing the county executive speak.
“I have spoken to the owners of the mall they have told me they are in negotiations and it is still ongoing,” said Quigley. “They said, ‘The only thing we will confirm is that we are continuing to have circulating lease drafts.’ The town has no knowledge of [a consummated transaction that would result in the realization of this move. That being said, we do recognize Hyland’s contribution to the community with his employment, and we would hope that he could conclude his negotiations for a space in the Town of Ulster so that the community can retain the jobs.”
Quigley cited the Nuvance Health Kingston Multispecialty Center and Urgent Care taking over the former Macy’s space at the Hudson Valley Mall as evidence that the town is willing to help businesses that make sense at the property with any zoning issues that might arise.
“I did encourage [Hull Property Group] when they initiated their lease negotiations to make that application sooner rather than later so that they would be prepared to move quickly once everything was signed sealed and delivered,” Quigley said.
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yan said this week he remains confident that the Farm Bridge move would happen, and he added that the wheels are also in motion to expand the former Sears into a multi-business agricultural center.
“The final I’s dotted and T’s crossed haven’t happened with Farm Bridge specifically yet, but I’m almost certain that that’s going to happen in short order,” Ryan said. “But regardless of when that happens the larger move of transitioning the mall or part of them all into this Hub is definitely going to happen. Because I’m not going to let it not happen.”
Ryan said it was gratifying to see the mall adapt to changes in the retail environment.
“I grew up here in Kingston and had my first date at the food court at the Hudson Valley Mall,” Ryan said. “So it’s personal to me to to try to see that return back to something that reflects not the old models of retail, but now something that provides good paying jobs in a growth sector of our economy rather than one that we know is fading away.”
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