A $24 million development in Kingston has added 100 apartments, including 20 reserved for households earning up to 80% of the area median income, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Friday. The four-story Barrel Factory Apartments building at 110 Cornell St. also includes ground-floor commercial space, according to the state announcement.
The other 80 apartments are market-rate. The release says construction is complete but does not give rents, a leasing timetable or occupancy figures, so completion should not be confused with all units being occupied. The 80% income threshold is an eligibility cap for the affordable units, not a description of what residents will pay.
Empire State Development provided a $4.78 million grant from its Mid-Hudson Momentum Fund for this phase of the project. State grants across the two phases total $5.62 million. The project was developed by MHV Development.
Reusing the Barrel Factory site
The new building is the second phase of a redevelopment of former industrial property in Midtown Kingston. It includes street-level retail along Cornell Street and restoration of The Barn at the Barrel Factory, a former warehouse of about 21,000 square feet.
The Barn is leased to Free to Thrift and other professional and maker uses, the state said. Officials said it could support as many as 20 jobs, but did not report an actual job count. The new retail space is intended to bring more activity to the corridor.
The first phase reused a 120-year-old factory that had been vacant for roughly 15 years. That $4.6 million phase created 12 affordable apartments, about 3,500 square feet of flexible commercial space and shared amenities. It received an $840,000 Restore New York Communities Initiative grant.
Together, the phases have produced 112 apartments, 32 of them designated affordable, as well as commercial space. The state described the new building as mixed-income because it combines the 20 income-restricted units with 80 market-rate homes.
Financing and remaining questions
The Community Preservation Corporation provided $19.5 million in construction financing and $16.3 million in permanent financing backed by Freddie Mac. Those figures describe different stages of financing and should not be added together as the project's cost. The release did not specify how much of the construction loan remained outstanding after permanent financing.
Hochul said the state investment helped return underused property to housing and commercial use. Local officials welcomed the project as a source of new housing, but the announcement did not provide evidence yet of its effect on neighborhood rents or affordability beyond the 20 restricted apartments in the new building.
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