Ginsburg unveils townhomes in Peekskill; moves forward with Fort Hill apartments
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Sixteen new townhomes are now available for purchase along Peekskill”™s Main Street.
Ginsburg Development Cos. held a ceremonial ribbon cutting on Thursday for Gateway Townhomes, a $5.2 million, three-story development of rowhouse condominiums at 700 Main St. in Peekskill.
“We”™ve always recognized that Peekskill is itself a gateway to upstate and to the revitalization of the Hudson River corridor,” said Martin Ginsburg, founder and principal of Ginsburg Development.
The new homes sit just off of the Route 9 entrance ramps that lead to the city”™s downtown.
“In order to establish a place as special, when you come into it, the first impressions are always so important,” Ginsburg said.
The site was previously home to a bar and a building that former Peekskill mayor and County Legislator John Testa called a “rat-infested crack house on the corner here.” Ginsburg said those properties were demolished decades ago, and the site has sat vacant since then.
“We were able to make this now a much fuller and more advantageous project for the city,” Testa said.
The site also brought up a childhood memory for Peekskill Mayor Andre K. Rainey, who recalls spending time at a store that used to sit on the property.
“I remember my grandmother called the Peekskill police cause she thought I ran away, but I was just hanging out at this store right here,” he said with a laugh. “The police came to the store and said, ”˜You know your grandmother is looking for you?”™ And I said, ”˜No, I just came to get some Fritos.”™”
For Rainey, the new development “shows that Peekskill has come a long way, and we”™re continuing to grow.”
“Peekskill is open for business,” he said.
The 14 three-bedroom homes, which range in size from 1,756 to 1,915 square feet, will be sold at market rate prices, starting at $335,000. Two two-bedroom units start at 1,649 square feet and will be offered as affordable workforce housing for those making up to 80 percent of the Westchester median income, with the sales price pending notification of certain grants.
The first floor of each townhome features an entrance hall, home office and guest room, and two-car garage. On the second floor, there is a living room, dining room and eat-in kitchen, while top floors feature the two or three bedrooms.
Ginsburg is also constructing another project in Peekskill, the $64.5 million mixed-use development Fort Hill. That project, which is being built on the site of a former convent and Revolutionary War lookout in Peekskill, will include 178 rental apartments called the Fort Hill Apartments at the Abbey Inn.
The Valhalla-based developer acquired the property in 2003 and, after numerous development plans fell through over the next decade, rekindled the project at the urging of then-Peekskill Mayor Frank Catalina and presented plans to Peekskill city officials in 2015.
Today, construction crews are working to erect the third of the three five-story apartment buildings on the property, and the developer plans to host a grand opening in September.
“It”™s a wonderful site but extremely difficult to develop,” Ginsburg said. “Our objective is that when we complete this project, it will look like it always was there.”
The complex”™s amenities will include a fitness center, club room and swimming pool.
Ginsburg also plans to develop the Abbey Inn, a 42-room hotel, event space and eatery in the former St. Mary”™s Chapel building on the site. The chapel dates to the late 19th century and was home to the Episcopal Community of St. Mary until 2003.