Main Street Project Loses Affordable Units – The Current (2024)

Beacon developer cites delay in state funding

The Dutchess County Industrial Development Agency last month approved changes to the 2 Cross St. development in Beacon that shift seven of the project’s 18 apartments from “affordable” to market rate.

The project, a three-story, 24,000-square-foot building being developed by Joe Donovan at the corner of Main and Cross streets, was approved by the Beacon Planning Board in 2022. It was to include 18 below-market-rate apartments, nine of them for the “frail elderly,” above retail space on the street level.

Last year Donovan received a $1.58 million grant from Dutchess County stipulating that nine of the apartments be rented to tenants making no more than 80 percent of the area median income, which, according to the most recent Census Bureau data, is $94,578 for a household. Beacon’s zoning code requires two more units for its “workforce affordable” program, which gives priority to volunteer emergency responders and city and school district employees making between 70 and 80 percent of the median.

Donovan said he had hoped to use a $1.7 million loan from Empire State Development to help pay for the remaining seven apartments. However, the loan award has been “repeatedly delayed,” he said, so the project will proceed with seven market-rate units. If his company, Hudson Todd, receives the loan, it will attempt to make those units affordable again, Donovan said.

The Dutchess IDA had to approve the change because it agreed last year to exempt the project from some sales, real estate and mortgage-recording taxes.

Planning Board preview
The Planning Board will begin its review on Tuesday (May 14) of a Beacon developer’s plan to build four townhomes on a Henry Street lot, a block from Main Street.

Lori Joseph Builders is proposing to demolish a single-family home and accessory structures on the quarter-acre 19 Henry St. parcel and replace them with four two-story townhomes. The parcel is in Beacon’s Transitional Zone, which allows a mix of compatible commercial, residential and parking uses.

The site is on the south side of Henry Street, down the block from the former auto repair shop that is being redeveloped as GarageWORKS, a gallery and artists’ studio space. Each 900-square-foot townhome would have a one-car garage.

In materials submitted to the Planning Board, the developer’s attorney wrote that the project is designed to further the city’s efforts, through its creation of the Transitional Zone, “to maintain the community character of the neighborhood, while providing the opportunity and encouragement for small housing units.”

The board will also hold a public hearing next week on Carvana’s proposal to take over the former Healey Hyundai parcel on Fishkill Avenue. The used car dealer would have 12 to 15 employees at the site, where customers could pick up vehicles purchased online.

In addition to the Planning Board, Carvana is expected to appear before the Zoning Board of Appeals later this month to discuss a possible parking variance. Under Beacon’s existing code, the company would need to provide at least 125 spaces on-site.

However, the City Council is considering changes to its minimum parking requirements, and under the potential new plan, between 51 and 84 spaces would be needed. There are 70 at the site.

The Planning Board will also continue its review of these projects:

• Mirbeau of Beacon’s request to amend its 2022 approval to redevelop the Tioronda Estate, including the former Craig House psychiatric hospital, as a luxury hotel and spa. To cut costs, Mirbeau has elected to renovate, rather than demolish, a 1978 dining wing, and no longer plans to build seven ground-floor “grotto” rental rooms.The company also said it would not pave a portion of an interior road and an employee parking lot. The board held a public hearing on the changes last month and could approve them next week.
• Developer Bernard Kohn’s request at 248 Tioronda Ave. to move the Fishkill Creek Greenway and Heritage Trail away from flood-prone areas and eliminate a staircase leading to the trail. After a public hearing in April, the Planning Board may approve the changes, which do not affect the project’s 64 apartments or a 25,400-square-foot commercial building, this month.
• Beacon Arts Center LLC and Bay Ridge Studios LLC’s proposal to build two four-story buildings at the corner of Wolcott Avenue (Route 9D) and Beekman Street. The project, which was introduced to the board in December, would include about 16,000 square feet of commercial space along with 64 one- and two-bedroom apartments.