A plan to turn the former Chiz’s boarding house into an affordable housing complex with as many as 60 units is expected to be presented to the Kingston Planning Board on Sept 18. The applicant is an entity 256 Washington House LLC, which has an address on Park Avenue in Manhattan and the entity Home Property Group LLC has been identified as the developer.
Scott Rosen of the Home Property Group said, “We are employing local architectural, engineering, and contracting services to deliver a best-in-class project to a greatly underserved part of the community and a brighter future for a once blighted property. As the owners of other properties in the neighborhood, we are committed to managing and maintaining the development at 256 Washington to the highest of standards.”
The project would consist of converting most of the boarding house rooms in two buildings at the property into individual apartments. 
Front of Washington Avenue former boarding house property in Kingston.The majority of the boarding house rooms will be updated to have bathrooms and kitchenettes within each room. There will be three remaining board house rooms without individual bathrooms. There will be a common kitchen and bathroom to serve these three units. An on-site manager’s office will be provided on the first floor. A separate two-story building is located at the southeast corner of the property. This building currently contains 10 boarding rooms with common bathrooms. There is a storage room and a single car garage space on the first floor of this building that is proposed to be converted to an additional boarding room. The total number of boarding rooms in this building would be 11.
The developer is proposing to install new plumbing, electrical, windows, and energy efficient heat pump systems. Several studio units will be made adaptable for people who have physical disabilities.
Parking will be limited to four regular parking spaces and one handicapped accessible space with the appropriate loading area. The rear parking area is currently paved and will remain as is. A rack will be provided at the rear of the building with the capacity of at least 15 bicycles.
According to Kingston Mayor Steve Noble, the organization Family of Woodstock plans to manage the premises under a long-term lease, including providing on-site support for residents. All rents will be affordable to people making below 80% of the Area Median Income.
“This is a great opportunity for redevelopment, and I am so pleased that this project will be 100% affordable,” Noble said. “The developers”™ partnership with Family of Woodstock will provide much needed supportive housing to Uptown Kingston.”
