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Mid Hudson Times, Wednesday, October 28, 2015
River of Opportunities: Newburgh has ‘cool’ appeal
By SHANTAL RILEY
[email protected]
Entrepreneurs, urban planners and
business development experts shared
a wealth of information with residents and business owners at a River
of Opportunities summit held last
Wednesday.
Speakers explained the City of
Newburgh’s new zoning would make it
easier for new and existing businesses to
grow. They identified the city’s new, hip
persona as a tool for attracting investment.
“The buzz is pretty considerable,” said
speaker Thomas Wright, going as far to
describe emerging perceptions of the city
as “cool” and “up-and-coming.”
Wright and his partner Joseph Fratesi
own Atlas Industries, a furniture and
architectural design and manufacturing
company. The pair moved the business to
the City of Newburgh after being “pricedout” of Brooklyn in 2012.
Atlas Industries is a good example
of the kind of company the city hopes
to attract through cheap real estate and
other incentives, said Peter Malone,
campaign manager of the River of
The inside of 639 Broadway. The 80,000-square-foot warehouse was the location of a River
of Opportunities development summit held last Wednesday.
Opportunities initiative, which facilitates
the acquisition of workspace in the city.
“(Wright) is part of a creative class
who see the opportunity to come into an
urban location and repurpose buildings,”
said Malone, speaking to a crowd of about
60 at the event, held at 639 Broadway.
Wright explained how Atlas went
from a 5,000-square-foot space to a
55,000-square-foot space at its current
location on Spring Street. “The building
we found was a lot larger than we needed,” Wright said.
And, it needed a lot of work, including building-wide electrical upgrades and
opening dozens of bricked-in windows.
“We knew that if it was good for us,
it would be good for other people,” he
said, noting about half of the tenants are
Brooklyn transplants.
The building currently has 30 tenants,
including Atlas, and plans are in motion to
rent additional units along South William
Street as storefront spaces, said Wright. “ B