At his inauguration on January 1 of this year, Kingston mayor Steve Noble announced his goal of approving the construction of 1000 new housing units in the city by the end of 2028.
“The housing crisis continues to weigh on the city with too many individuals and families struggling with housing insecurity,” Noble said. “Housing is a basic human right, and I believe with every new program we implement, every new unit we help build, with every person we help stay in their home we are creating a brighter community for all.”
The Kingston Business Park on Corporate Drive off Delaware Avenue is one of the few locations within the city limits where it’s possible that a significant number of units could be added to the city housing stock. This year, Kingston will be examining that possibility closely.
Two manufacturing tenants, aerospace parts manufacturer Howmet Fastening Systems and Community Manufacturing Associates, a cut-and-sew operation affiliated with the Bruderhof, occupy space at the business park. Of the total 107 acres, approximately 65 acres could be used for the construction of buildings and parking areas. The park is owned and operated by the Kingston Local Development Corporation (KLDC), a city-created agency whose primary purpose is to stimulate investment within the City of Kingston.
As a preliminary step to the creation of a potential housing development on the unused acreage, Mayor Steve Noble announced the issuance of a request for Proposals (RFP) looking to identify a qualified firm to help the city perform the initial site analysis and provide architectural and design concepts.
Noble says hiring a qualified firm will establish whether the location would be suitable for housing development in the first place.
And if so, “where on the site would be suitable, how much and what type of buildings can we build and fit within our zoning code and what next steps would be needed to then move forward,” said Noble. “One of those next steps would be then to take all of this information and to then ask the Kingston Local Development Corporation whether they would like to solicit a developer to build housing on the site.”
The site, a mile from the Kingston Point Beach on the Hudson River and a half-mile from the start of the rail-trail along the Rondout waterfront, will likely generate significant developer interest.
With a density-friendly code in place across the city which offers an increase in mixed-use applications as commercial incentive, it may be that developers will now be more willing to consider the opportunities that Kingston offers, and having considered be able to move at a faster pace in getting new housing up.
Bartek Starodaj, director of housing initiatives for the City of Kingston, noted that the new zoning code was less restrictive than the previous one. “There’s a lot of opportunities for density up there,” said Starodaj. “And also opportunities for mixed-use development as well … buildings of varying heights and types. And so I think that’s what we’ll be looking for from the architectural partners to help us hone in on the vision, in part just because there’s a lot of possibilities given to us by the new zoning code here.”
The form-based zoning code identifies the business park as SD-F or special district flex, which allows an unrestricted amount of units and a vertical mix of various uses.
Examples of existing buildings identified by the city as resembling a flex building would be the artist lofts at the Shirt Factory across the street from the post office in Midtown, which offers 65,000 square feet and 63 artist studio spaces, and the Lace Mill on Cornell Street, a 53,000-square-foot building near the CSX train tracks, which provides 55 units.
Buildings constructed in an SD-F zone could be zoned for up to four stories tall, Starodaj thinks it likely that developers will prefer instead to take advantage of the standards at the location, which allow different types of transects to be utilized, allowing more flexibility to a project. “In this case, it would be a Conservation Village plan,” said Starodaj, “which is typically three stories maximum.”
Starodaj concluded that it was still too early to predict what a development up the hill would look like. “Nothing has been decided,” he said.
Noble remains optimistic about Kingston’s ability to attract substantial development.
“Historically, the business park has been used for commercial entities, but we are interested in redeveloping the remaining available parcels for residential or mixed-use development,” he said. “Kingston was recently designated as a Pro-Housing Community by New York State, and we have set an ambitious goal for approving 1000 new housing units by 2029. We are looking at the redevelopment of the business park as a potential for reaching this goal.”
Any firms interested in shop-working concepts with the City of Kingston and the KLDC must submit their proposals before May 9.
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