New Housing Needed: A Proposal for Gardiner
Ulster County is currently in the midst of a once-in-a-generation housing affordability crisis. The limited existing housing supply combined with a spike in post-pandemic housing demand has resulted in rental and purchase prices that are, according to a recent Mid-Hudson Patterns for Progress report, out of reach for many residents of the region. Beyond the enormous challenges created for residents to secure affordable housing for themselves, the unstable market also creates challenges for our regions’ employers. With limited affordable housing options in our communities, employers need to look outside of our communities for new hires. This hurts our tax base and it hurts the businesses who must schedule around longer travel times and other administrative challenges.
A key solution to the supply and demand stress that is resulting in increased housing prices is to increase the supply – we learned this in high school economics! Leaders in New York State and in Ulster County have acknowledged this and have launched programs aimed at incentivizing new affordable housing projects and streamlining the often complex and unwieldy approval process. All in an effort to bring new units to the market to help individuals, families and businesses navigate the housing market.
Closer to home in Gardiner, where many people who work in the town’s hospitality, restaurant or retail businesses cannot afford to live in the town, I own a well-known parcel on Ireland Corners that could help to address this problem. The parcel previously was home to a restaurant with some additional apartments. I believe the parcel could be home to a larger mixed-use development with commercial space on the ground floor and as many as 40 workforce apartments on the second and third floors. In addition to sprucing up a corner that serves as a gateway to the hamlet of Gardiner and creating additional business opportunities, this approach to developing the corner could provide affordable housing opportunities for fifteen individuals or families who work in town and want to be able to live among the community they serve.
In order to build this type of project at this location, we need to be able to hook-up to the Town’s existing wastewater system which would require it to be extended less than half a mile on Rt 44/55, as the construction of an onsite system would limit the buildable portion of the property to a point where the project would not be economically viable. I have shared this concept with Town leaders and have offered support in finding funding to help to extend the wastewater system to the property. I will be speaking with the Town Board about this later this month as well. Together I hope we can invest in this property so we can maximize the value to our community by producing affordable housing options for our working families. I look forward to continuing this conversation with the community and welcome your thoughts and ideas about how best to move forward with the revitalization of Ireland Corners. Anyone interested in providing direct feedback can do so by sending an email to info@irelandcorners.net
Mickey Jamal
Gardiner, NY