In a move to tackle one upstate region’s housing crunch, Ulster County Jail in Kingston, NY is being reborn as a mixed-use community.
The jail, which faced the wrecking ball in 2022, is making way for desperately needed housing.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, speaking in Hyde Park this week, unveiled plans to boost housing in New York’s Mid-Hudson region.
“Communities all over the Mid-Hudson region are stepping up in extraordinary ways to address the housing crisis,” Hochul said. “The Mid-Hudson Momentum Fund is not just helping them build more housing — it’s helping them chart a path toward a more affordable New York.”
A whopping $67 million in state funding will go towards building more than 2,400 housing units, including more than 1,300 affordable homes. The funds will also support transit-oriented development and infrastructure upgrades.
The standout project? The former Ulster County Jail in Kingston.
The site will feature 160 units, split evenly between senior and workforce housing, affordable at 30-60% of the area median income.
A 5,000-square-foot community building will offer residents fitness space and spaces for local organizations to provide services.
RuthAnne Visnauskas, New York State Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner, praised the initiative to the Hudson Valley Post: “These projects will benefit communities and thousands of their residents in so many ways — from new construction of hundreds of new homes and funding essential infrastructure improvements to transforming a former jail into modern apartments.”
Ulster County Legislator Peter Criswell echoed the excitement, highlighting the significance of the $34.5 million in federal funds fueling the transformation.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the County,” he said in a previous press conference, “and we took a good amount of time to analyze what we wanted to do with this money — looking at the deepest and longest term impact that we could have on the County.”
Residents are expected to move in by the end of the year, according to Spectrum Local News.
Other projects in the pipeline include a new mixed-income building in Poughkeepsie and two residential towers in Mount Vernon.