State provides $15M grant for $80M affordable housing development

The New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance has awarded a $15 million grant in its Homeless Housing Assistance Program to the Golden Hill affordable housing development to be built in Kingston. The project is a partnership of Ulster County, affordable housing developer and manager Pennrose, and Family of Woodstock, which will provide supportive services and hold 51% ownership of the project.

Family of Woodstock and Pennrose are redeveloping the former Ulster County jail site into the mixed-income and mixed-use Golden Hill community. Family of Woodstock and Pennrose both have 50-years of experience in housing. Philadelphia-based Pennrose has developed affordable and mixed-income housing, with more than 17,000 units in 16 states.

Gorick Construction Company based in Binghamton was chosen to demolish the old Ulster County Jail to clear the site for the housing development. Construction of the Golden Hill project was expected to begin in the first quarter of 2024.

“We urgently need to expand affordable and supportive housing in Ulster County to meet the dire need, and this major award through the state’s Homeless Housing Assistance Program will enable the Golden Hill development to move to construction,” said Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger. “This is a model project in many ways, providing on-site community daycare and services to vulnerable seniors, and is well-aligned with the county’s climate goals, with an energy-efficient, all-electric design and close proximity to public transit and the rail trail.”

According to Dylan Salmons, regional vice president at Pennrose, the brand-new community will bring much-needed affordable homes to households of Kingston.

Kingston’s Mayor Steve Noble explained that the development agreement that Kingston reached with the project team will benefit for the whole community.

The Golden Hill project is located at 63 Golden Hill Drive in Kingston. It will include 164 housing units, approximately 5,000 square feet of community service facility space, a 600 kilowatt solar power system, six playgrounds designed for a variety of ages, and a trail connection to the Empire State Trail. Forty-eight of the housing units will provide permanent supportive housing for domestic violence survivors and frail elderly through the Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative. Eighty of the housing units would be reserved for senior citizens with the other 84 units designated for families.

There would be four buildings. One mid-rise building would have the 80 senior units, each a one-bedroom apartment. Another mid-rise building would have 48 one-bedroom and two-bedroom family housing units. There would be four townhouse buildings with a total of 36 one-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments.

The apartments will be priced to be affordable to people whose incomes are from 30% to 130% of the Area Median Income. The plans for the project were developed with the benefit of community input received during five public meetings set up specifically to obtain that input. In addition, the plan underwent a review process by the Kingston Planning Board that lasted about 10 months.