Poughkeepsie on the move
A diverse economy, a little luck, great location and a lot of hard work plus the personal touch. Those are among the ingredients cited as to why the city of Poughkeepsie appears to be improving its business climate even as the rest of the region and the nation weather the aftereffects of the Great Recession.
“We”™ve got a lot of stuff going on right now,” said City Administrator Michael Long, in what may constitute understatement on a grand scale.
In no particular order, he recited the ongoing work along the shoreline, starting at the DeLaval Separator property that was for decades a tainted industrial wasteland and which now has a thriving restaurant called Shadows, with a new marina, and ongoing construction to clean up the remainder of the 14 acres for a hotel, homes and retail.
Poughkeepsie is doing work to restore waterfront parks and properties with an eye toward a linked linear park running along the shoreline. Metro-North Railroad is doing feasibility studies for transit-oriented development, several high-profile developers are in various stages of planning and approving projects that will enhance waterfront area properties. Next spring, a cruise line will offer river cruises from docks just south of the Walkway Over the Hudson.
All that work done or in progress does not include the revitalization of Main Street, where successful restaurants and restoration of the Luckey Platt building are injecting life and commerce into the former blight, with prospects further enhanced by work being done to bring an Associated supermarket to the neighborhood in the former Davis Furniture building.
This activity is premised on outreach, Long said.
“One thing the mayor has been working hard on is cultivating personal relations with developers and working with people.”
Business people from the captain of the cruise ship Mystere to the owner of the Bull and Buddha restaurant to the project manager of the Luckey Platt among others all cited the city”™s proactive stance toward business as part of what brought them to Poughkeepsie.
Audra Gerty, executive vice president and CFOÂ of the Duthcess County Regional Chamber of Commerce, said that luck is part of why Poughkeepsie is doing well, but noted that luck is often the residue of good planning. She said the Walkway Over the Hudson is a lucky break for both sides of the river, but that Poughkeepsie is moving quickly to take advantage of the tourist bonanza.
She cites the partnership between the city government and the business community as key in revitalizing Poughkeepsie”™s waterfront and generally expects the positive trend to continue.
“I do foresee continual expansion and improvement of the waterfront because public policy makers and business owners have really come together to plan how to best develop that property and maximize that asset to the area. And it wouldn”™t have happened without that partnership.”
And she said Poughkeepsie is well positioned to ride out an economic downturn and attract investment due to its diversified economy in recession-resistant fields, such as medicine, education and law.
“I”™ve always looked at Poughkeepsie as being very fortunate because we have two large hospital systems along with all the associated medical support systems and staff, as well as four major colleges within a 10-mile radius,” Gerty said. “So we are benefitting from the impact of the students and all the professionals and then all the visitors, for of course the Walkway has had an immediate positive impact on the tourism industry.”
“There is such a multiplier effect with all the projects,” she said. “And that that really helps reduce the negative impacts of the recession of our economy.”