Our Community Building & Engagement team helps build sustainable, inclusive and participatory communities.
Our team layers multiple strategies to preserve and strengthen neighborhoods.
We empower residents and stakeholders to create communities of opportunity for all. We build leadership skills, promote equitable economic development, and strengthen neighborhood connections.
The Middle Main Initiative is a program of Hudson River Housing working to strengthen and preserve a strong, vibrant, and creative Main Street corridor in the City of Poughkeepsie. This initiative celebrates the many assets of the community and employs dynamic strategies to build upon them.
We employ innovative strategies that:
Small businesses are the foundation of a vibrant Main Street corridor. Through the Made in Middle Main campaign, businesses support the work of the community and in turn are supported and promoted by the community and the Hudson River Housing team.
We are generating a vibrant commercial corridor by developing signage, revitalizing storefronts, attracting entrepreneurs, and engaging the community in neighborhood events and activities.
Safe, clean and attractive public spaces are one of the top concerns of local residents. Hudson River Housing is investing in the neighborhood by organizing beautification projects and rehabilitating vacant properties.
We currently own and manage two public spaces, Murphy Park, located in front of the Poughkeepsie Underwear Factory at 517 Main Street, and Jardin de las Rosas, located on the corner of Rose Street at 535 Main Street. We are working to keep these spaces accessible and serving as assets in our neighborhood.
Poughkeepsie’s greatest asset is its people. Whether residents were born in the Hudson Valley, or landed here from another state or country, the Middle Main Initiative brings them together to form the diverse identity of this neighborhood.
Through strategies including our Community Leadership Program, resident advisory committees, and our Inclusive Communities Working Group, we provide opportunities to join together to shape the future of the city of Poughkeepsie.
Our team works to collect information on neighborhood conditions to guide our strategies, advocate for greater resources, and inform the work of partners and government. Take a look at the results of our most recent survey.
The award-winning redevelopment of the Poughkeepsie Underwear Factory is the anchor project in Hudson River Housing’s work in the Middle Main Street corridor.
This three story, 22,000 square foot historic building has been completely restored as a hub of residential, commercial and community activity.
The building features the PUF Cafe (temporarily closed), the Poughkeepsie Open Kitchen shared-use commercial kitchen for food entrepreneurs, PUF Studios, and other commercial tenants.
The Poughkeepsie Underwear Factory also features fifteen apartments, including eleven affordable units, a community park, and frontage on the Fall Kill Creek.
The PUF Coffee House & Cafe has closed temporarily as of Friday, July 31st.
As we help small businesses navigate the changing food and beverage landscape, we are reorienting what was our cafe space to focus on our shared use kitchen incubator, and add production and distribution space.
The Poughkeepsie Open Kitchen (P.O.K.) is a shared-use commercial kitchen designed to support and promote small-scale food entrepreneurs in the Hudson Valley. The kitchen is fully operational and expanding!
Our mission is to support the launch and growth of food businesses through commercial kitchen access, business development training, and community connections.
We have 3,000 sq. ft. of commercial grade food prep, cooking, packaging, and storage space that is fully equipped for your use.
The Poughkeepsie Trolley Barn is a community space by and for diverse art practitioners that serves as a community hub for the promotion of the arts in Poughkeepsie. Hudson River Housing is committed to stewarding the Trolley Barn as a place where artists and community members can meaningfully connect with each other and celebrate what makes Poughkeepsie a unique and special place. The Trolley Barn presents a special opportunity to showcase how the arts can make a transformational difference in the lives of youth and adults.
We are proud to host several local organizations at the Trolley Barn, including:
Hudson River Housing’s Northeastern Dutchess Initiative works to advance solutions to shared concerns for affordable housing and inclusive economic development in the region.
Our objective is to advocate for and undertake direct action to secure an equitable and sustainable future for the rural communities of northeastern Dutchess that ensures a continuum of affordable housing options exists for all current and future residents.
Hudson River Housing is a founding member of the Tri-Town Coalition, a group of local residents, stakeholders and town boards working together for quality
housing we can all afford.
The Tri-Town Coalition unites the geographic area of Pine Plains, North East, and Amenia to address common challenges. The goal of the Tri-Town Coalition is to attract more quality housing for business owners, workers, young people, seniors, and all who want to live in the area. The Tri-Town Coalition provides information on housing ideas, innovations, and decision-making in our regions so that residents can engage with the process.
Current actions the TTC undertakes include education and advocacy on housing issues, collaboration through town-based working groups, and technical assistance for housing development.
Everyone should be able to access housing that is within their means. We want to make that possible.
A three-part training for residents and workers in Amenia, Millerton and Pine Plains
Beginning in the fall of 2021, the TTC will be offering a series of trainings to 30 new local volunteers about the housing crisis in northeastern Dutchess County to learn
Priority will be given to participants who live or work in Millerton, Amenia, or Pine Plains. Sessions will he held once/month for two hours in the evening beginning in October. All trainings will be held virtually over zoom.
Stipends of $30/session are available upon request.
Stipends will be prioritized for those who do not otherwise receive compensation for their time from an employer, or haven’t made or a previous commitment to volunteer service for their community. If you are interested in a stipend, please indicate that at registration for follow up. A request for a stipend does not guarantee approval.
Training provided by the Regional Plan Association with support from the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation Northeast Dutchess Fund.
The Northside Poughkeepsie Initiative focuses on the City of Poughkeepsie’s 5th Ward, a neighborhood that has seen a disproportionate amount of distress in homes and infrastructure. We know that the success of all neighborhoods benefits the city as a whole – as long as any one area struggles the city as a whole can never thrive.
Together with Rebuilding Together of Dutchess County and Habitat for Humanity of Dutchess County, we have formed the Poughkeepsie Affordable Housing Coalition to advance affordable housing and equitable development. Together, the PAHC is championing strategies to decrease vacant and abandoned properties in the neighborhood, build community wealth, and ensure long-term housing affordability.
Current strategies include:
Hudson River Housing works to increase the supply of affordable housing in the Hudson Valley through new construction, rehabilitation and historic preservation projects. Our housing development work has proved an important part of neighborhood revitalization efforts taking place in the City of Poughkeepsie and throughout the Mid-Hudson Valley.
Through our housing development we have invested over $184 million dollars into the creation of over 1,200 units of housing and 60 commercial spaces.
As a regional organization, our work has a broad impact. However, we have undertaken focused investment in the City of Poughkeepsie throughout our history. This has resulted in the creation of 677 affordable rental units, 37 affordable homeownership opportunities, and over $125,381,491 invested in the City alone.
Hudson River Housing (HRH) has been selected by Enterprise Community Partners, Inc., and New York State Homes and Community Renewal as one of six Landlord Ambassadors in New York State. HRH strives to increase the supply of sustainable affordable housing through new construction, rehabilitation, adaptive reuse, and historic preservation.
The Landlord Ambassadors Program (LAP) provides financing and technical assistance opportunities to help stabilize the physical and financial health of small to medium-sized affordable multifamily properties.
In its role as Landlord Ambassador, Hudson River Housing will offer property owners:
Each owner and property is unique and HRH’s approach and action plan to provide assistance will be customized to the needs and goals of each property owner. HRH can help access many public resources including low interest loans and other funds to help owners make needed improvements to their property.
If you are interested in participating in this program, please fill out the application online or download and email it to jgomez@hudsonriverhousing.org, or deliver it to our office at 313 Mill Street, Poughkeespie, NY 12601.
Online Form / Formulario En Linea
Descargar Este Formulario (español)
For additional information or questions, please contact Javier Gomez by email at jgomez@hudsonriverhousing.org or by phone at 845 454-5176 ext.504
Crannell Square is the redevelopment of the parking lot at the corner of Catherine and Mill Streets in Poughkeepsie into 75 units of mixed-income housing. Hudson River Housing is co-developing Crannell Square with Kearney Realty & Development Group.
Affordable housing is an extremely urgent need for the city right now, and it has an important role to play in securing the future of our city. As Poughkeepsie sees the pace of development intensifying, projects like Crannell Square ensure that we embed a foundation of long-term affordable housing to safeguard against rampant gentrification. As a non-profit co-developer of this project, it is our mission to ensure that its primary purpose is to provide high-quality, well-designed, healthy, affordable housing for city residents for the life of the project.
Recognizing that the process of real estate development, and particularly the financing, is complex, we offer the following overview about the proposed Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) agreement for Crannell Square. We welcome any and all questions about this project! Please contact Mary Linge, Director of Real Estate Development, at mlinge@hudsonriverhousing.org or (845) 453-9745.
Crannell Square is primarily funded by tax credits from NYS Homes & Community Renewal and is subject to strict NYS guidelines. For example, the income that the project is allowed to earn is limited to about $29,000 annually, which is very low considering the variables at play when managing a large property.The $29,000 net income takes into account the lower rents being received because of the affordable nature of the project and relies on tax savings, such as a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT), in order to make the numbers work.
The PILOT agreement proposed for Crannell Square is $100,000 annually, with a 3% annual increase. The tax savings from the PILOT do not result in additional income that is passed on to HRH or Kearney Realty Group, but is used directly to keep rents low. Just as tax dollars can be invested in things like education or public spaces, the PILOT is a choice to invest in affordable housing as one of the necessary components of a thriving city.
The PILOT will guarantee lower rents for 30 years. If a 581-A tax assessment were used as an alternative to the PILOT, the same guarantees are not possible. A 581A is re-evaluated annually, with taxes based on the expenses and “profit” of the project. The expenses allowed in this calculation are discretionary, which puts the project at risk of a significant tax increase, and subsequent rent increases, on an annual basis. A PILOT protects the project from this potential fate and guarantees renters an affordable place to live.
The lot where the Crannell Square project will be located has been widely underutilized by the city for decades. The PILOT is an investment in affordable housing as a necessary component to a thriving city. In addition to the city earning the proposed PILOT, the city will also receive $462,500 for the lot.
Mixed income developments have been proven across the country to be a healthier choice for communities than concentrating low income families in one area. Crannell Square will include 75 apartments, ranging in size from one, two and three-bedroom units. The project does not have commercial space, but is focused solely on filling the gap in housing units in the city. Below is the proposed make-up of residents:
An investment in affordable housing is an investment in a sustainable, diverse, and inclusive future for the City of Poughkeepsie!
78 units of affordable housing located on Rose Street in the City of Poughkeepsie
Two new buildings comprised of 41 studio apartments & 37 one-bedroom apartments
Extensive native landscaping and access to the Fall Kill Creek
On-site parking
Rents starting at $500/mo.
39 apartments reserved for tenants with mental illness
Robust on-site services, including care management and healthcare professionals
Below is a sample of some of our current and past projects.
