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Mid Hudson Times, Wednesday, July 11, 2018
Residents, city council at odds over Alembic project
Continued from page 1
apartment units made up of studios, 1,
2, and 3-bedroom units, and almost 19,000
square feet of commercial space. The site
is expected to include public green spaces,
solar panels and rooftops gardens.
“A bulk of those units we’re reserving
for between 60 and 80 percent of the
area median income,” she said. “That
means roughly between $50,000 to $70,000
combined (income) annually,” per family,
Mehta explained, with rents ranging from
$972 to $1,347.
“So, we’re really looking at 2
Montgomery Street as a family
development,” she said. “We’re hoping
this captures residents who work locally,
families that are looking for stable
housing, where rents are suddenly not
going to increase, and people who work
in local businesses, restaurants, schools,
people who are looking for high-quality
housing.”
“We’ve also included a bracket for 100
to 130 percent (area median income),”
she added, for 28 of the units. “These are
for people earning between $95,000 and
$123,000 annually…. Here we were really
responding to a desire to see more people
settling in Newburgh,” Mehta said, who
want to live close to downtown, close to
the train in Beacon and the Newburgh
waterfront.
Some council members expressed
surprise over the higher income brackets.
“You can get four, five people together
and they won’t make this amount of
money,” Councilwoman Hillary Rayford
told Mehta. At a Newburgh City Council
meeting on Monday night, Rayford made
a motion to scrap the project altogether.
But, the motion was rejected by the
council’s majority.
The Montgomery Street plan has
been a sore point for residents who say
the property is valuable and capable of
generating more tax income for the city
without affordable housing. The plan to
include 56 units of supportive housing
for people with physical and mental
disabilities, seniors and veterans has also
raised concerns.
“Newburgh, historically, has been a
dumping ground,” said Councilwoman
Patty Sofokles, complaining that for years
Orange County has placed the mentally
ill and other people in need of social
services in the City of Newburgh.
A payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) for
the project is another area of contention.
Mehta explained that a proposed 30-year
PILOT for 2 Montgomery Street would
start out with a payment of more than
$300,000 in the first year and increase by
The Newburgh City Council meeting was crowded at the city activity center on Monday night. Many residents were there to speak their minds
regarding the proposed Alembic project.
two percent per year.
“This is more than the sum of all our
PILOTS out there,” said city Director
of Planning and Development Deirdre
Glenn. “If these numbers are accurate,
we are potentially saying yes or no to the
potential number-two taxpayer in the City
of Newburgh,” said city Councilwoman
Karen Mejia.
Chrissy Amato expressed dismay at the
pro posed PILOT on Monday night. “We
are looking for tax payers that are net
tax positive,” said Amato. “We’re going to
have to foot the bill for this.”
“We need tax revenue,” yelled Rich
Fricasse into a microphone set up for
public comment at the Newburgh Activity
Center that night. Other residents
expressed support of the project’s
affordable housing. “Newburgh needs
to take a look at the different housing
opportunities,” said Phoenix Gayle.
“Don’t just take the Alembic project and
throw it away. Just tweak it.”
Alembic expects the project to be
financed through a combination of
bonds from the New York State Housing
Finance Agency, state tax credits and
state financing through programs such
as the Restore New York Communities
Initiative, said Mehta.
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