KINGSTON - A Downtown commercial building that could include residential units has been proposed nearly a decade after a similar plan was floated.

A&F Hudson Land Development Corp. of New Rochelle wants to build a 35,460-square-foot, three-story building on East Strand, across from Rosita's Restaurant, according to City Planner Suzanne Cahill. She said the city Planning Board will take up the proposal during its March 13 meeting but probably will not take any immediate action.

The proposal by A&F does not specify any residential units, but Kingston architect Scott Dutton, who is designing the building, said the company is "exploring" the possibility of having apartments on the second and third floors.

Dutton said there could be retailers on the first floor, including a grocer.
The proposal calls for a brick-facade building to be constructed on 1.3 acres. Though on East Strand, the building's address would be 1-3 Hudson Valley Landing. A&F already owns the parcel on which the building would stand.

A similar building, though without residential units, was proposed for the same site in 1997 by a development company called JA&F. That plan never came to fruition, and JA&F partner John McClellan later left the company. The company was renamed A&F Hudson Land Development Corp. before the current proposal was made.

Kingston Mayor James Sottile said the new proposal is indicative of a growing interest in the city's waterfront.

"This will fit in with our waterfront development plan," Sottile said. "Things are happening now, parcel by parcel, at the banks of the Rondout Creek."

Also in the works: Brooklyn attorney Robert Iannucci has been buying properties and buildings along the Rondout Creek with plans to create a maritime them park, residential units and restaurants; Charles Blaichman of New York City is building the 57-room Noah Hotel at the site of the former Forst Meat-Packing plant on Abeel Street; and two large-scale housing developments - Sailor's Cove and The Landing at Kingston and Ulster - have been proposed for land along the Hudson River.

The A&F plan calls for a three-story building with each floor measuring more than 11,000 square feet. The plan includes 53 parking spaces, but Cahill said a city ordinance calls for a least 118 spaces for a building of this size. A&F will need either a waiver from the Planning Board or a variance from the city Zoning Board of Appeals to have fewer than 118 spaces, she said.
Additionally, Cahill said, the A&F proposal calls for the building to be 250 feet long, which is 90 feet longer than allowed in that part of Kingston.

©Daily Freeman 2006

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