For a city on the verge of “turning the corner,” Newburgh certainly gets its share of bad press. It”™s been rated one of the worst cities in America. Drugs, crime and homelessness have taken their toll. Â Broadway sees more drug busts and boarded-up businesses than the shoppers it once drew.
Those are blemishes several groups are working to erase from the city”™s face: Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newburgh is one of them. The not-for-profit organization has been bringing the city”™s residents affordable housing, one building at a time, for several years.
Now, Leyland Alliance is the new partner in the rebuild Newburgh mix. It conducted the well-attended gathering earlier this year. The weeklong process attracted hundreds of residents who gave input and ideas to Leyland and its lead architect, Andres Duany, for the redevelopment of 30 acres of prime Newburgh waterfront property. Duany is considered the “father of new urbanism” and is well-known throughout the country for his innovative building concepts.
Leyland is now teaming with Habitat to tear down most of the buildings rotting on East Parmenter Street. This is the first collaboration between the two entities. Hopefully, say both, there will be more to come in the future.
There are a few holdouts still living on East Parmenter, a block filled with boarded-up, burnt-out homes and abandoned buildings.
“This street was beautiful up until the early 1980s” said one homeowner, speaking on condition of anonymity. “My wife and I are one of the few families left here. The house next to me was a meth (crystal methamphetamine) factory and the police closed that down. It was so bad we had to leave our house because of the smell, but we finally were able to move back. I”™ll welcome anything that will restore this neighborhood. It was a pleasure to live here at one time.”
Store owners, too, hope Newburgh can overcome political infighting and some of the bureaucratic morass created over the years. One shopkeeper, also requesting anonymity, said police are “tired of responding to problems here. Kids have nothing to do, so they”™ll harass store owners, throw rocks in your door. By the time cops arrive, it”™s all over. If you say anything, you might find a mob waiting for you. I”™d like to see that changed. I don”™t want any trouble or retaliation. I”™m just trying to keep my business going. I just hope the people in charge clean up the city. There are a lot of decent people here of every color. They deserve better.”
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Change is coming. Leyland will build 16 of the 24 proposed single-family homes; Habitat will build the remaining eight.
“Right from the start, it”™s been a wonderful collaboration” said Louis Marquet, executive vice president for Leyland Alliance, based in Tuxedo. “Habitat has very strong leadership. From Bill Murphy, one of the nonprofit”™s founders and its first president, to Deidre Glenn, the executive director, the entire group is very grounded. When these people talk about these projects, they understand cost, value and the need to keep things simple but attractive.”
Marquet said Habitat originally wanted to do a bigger project but didn”™t want an entire neighborhood of Habitat homes. “Our Leyland homes will blend with the Habitat homes architecturally and create a neighborhood that will meet both our organizations”™ objectives: traditional neighborhood design offering a variety of income levels, a real mix of families,” said Marquet.
Applicants by the dozen vie for the homes Habitat buys from the city”™s stock of abandoned housing and renovates. Donations come from a variety of sources, not just private funding and “angels,” but organizations like the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 363, the Construction Contractors Association and dozens of others, including volunteers who do the dirty work. Then comes the difficult task of selecting the families who will eventually end up in a rejuvenated Habitat house. The process can be both breathtaking and heartbreaking: breathtaking for the chosen family; heartbreaking for those who do not make it through the selection process.
While Habitat”™s homes are specifically geared for area residents who go through a selection process and are required to put in  hundreds of hours of “sweat equity” (working  on other Habitat home sites) and meet other criteria in order to be eligible for a Habitat home, Leyland”™s one-family homes will be based on the county”™s median income. ”˜We project our homes will be in the $200,000-250,000 range,” said Marquet.
A Habitat home”™s price is based on 25 percent to 50 percent of the county”™s median income. “It”™s a federal statistic put out by the U.S. Department of Urban Development,” said Diedre Glenn, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newburgh. “That number changes every year.” There are restrictions for the resale of Habitat homes that are part of the criteria. To date, Habitat has completed 27 homes in Newburgh in the past seven years and is working on five more.
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While the Leyland for-profit and Habitat not-for-profit business models differ, the goal is the same: “Affordable, clean homes for families in Newburgh,” said Glenn.
Marquet could not agree more. “We were amazed by the public turnout and interest,” he said of the early information process. “Andres Duany and his team from Duany and Plater-Zyberk were a motivating factor for many involved in the public meetings. People really care about seeing this city become a decent place to live again. I think we have initiated a turnaround with Habitat with our project on East Parmenter Street. We really enjoy working with Habitat and the people of Newburgh, and we”™re elated this street has become catalytic in that process.”
Leyland beat out more than 30 contenders for the development of the waterfront. Projected cost?  “You can”™t really put a price tag on this rehabilitation,” said Marquet. “They would be ”˜phone book”™ numbers. Of course, we are looking at all kinds of funding streams and talking to the New York state Senate for help on this project.” While Marquet could not predict the future, he guesstimated the price of the entire waterfront project would eventually be in excess of $500 million. “We are just getting into the SEQRA (state environmental quality review) and doing the planning and designing to try to advance it. That will take at least a year.”
When built out, Leyland”™s waterfront revitalization plan hopes to incorporate at least 1,000 residential units, commercial and office space and perhaps a small hotel and conference center. Its design will incorporate the incoming SUNY Orange campus in the former KeyBank building at the end of Broadway.
Marquet stressed plans are not “fleshed out ”¦ and there is still the SEQRA and design process to get through. While the city initially wanted 10 percent of the waterfront residential to be deemed affordable, Leyland will make 5 percent of the residential units affordable housing, based on 125 percent of the county”™s median income ”¦ the other 5 per cent of ”˜affordable housing”™ will be off-site.”
Marquet commended the city for passing a resolution to return to two-family zoning. He sees two-family homes as a stabilizing effect, where the homeowner can have a rental income to help pay for upkeep of the house. “It also provides affordable rentals for young couples and families, something we need desperately throughout the valley, not just in Newburgh, but everywhere.”
Leyland hopes to complete the approvals process for the East Parmenter Street project before the end of 2007. “Frankly, we”™d like to see people moving in by summer 2008,” said Marquet. “This project is not going to be a ”˜moneymaker”™ for Leyland. We are hoping to cover our costs and have spent a year working on the concept. It will be great for the city and great for Habitat.”
Leyland Alliance is a three-pronged partnership between Steve Maun, its president, Marquet and Marquet”™s co-executive vice president, Howard Kaufman. “Steve is our marketer; Howard”™s our in-house legal counsel; and I”™m the construction and finance guy,” Marquet said. “We”™ve been together since 1979 and have always been interested in the traditional neighborhood design concept. It seems to have finally caught on in the Hudson Valley. The concept is not a new one but it”™s new for the area. We”™re proud to be part of a group of forward thinkers reintroducing ”˜TND”™ (traditional neighborhood design) to the region.”
The associated Web sites are: www.habitatnewburgh.org and www.leylandalliance.com.
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