Potential development coming to Selkirk: Investors want to build $17 million warehouse near CSX rail yard:
https://www.bizjournals.com/albany/n...ouse-near.html
"A group of investors sees so much opportunity to bring a manufacturing company next to the CSX Corp. railroad yard in Selkirk that they could build a $17 million warehouse before securing any tenants.
The group wants to construct a 123,200-square-foot industrial building on a vacant 10.8-acre parcel on the east side of West Yard Road.
"Typical interior uses could accommodate a wide range of general manufacturing, wholesaling, storage and distribution of raw material and finished goods merchandise," according to an application submitted to the town of Bethlehem's planning board.
CSX (Nasdaq: CSX), a large rail-based freight company with operations in North America, runs the rail yard in the Selkirk hamlet, about 12 miles south of Albany.
Michael Hunter Coghill, managing partner of Adirondack Capital Partners, is among the investors pursuing the project. Adirondack Capital Partners is a capital markets advisory firm with a presence in the Albany region and New York City.
While many warehouses have been built in the region for last-mile delivery services and e-commerce storage, Coghill said the area around the rail yard generally isn't considered close enough to the highway to attract those types of investment. Even a 7- to 10-minute drive is too far, he said.
But, a company that wants to manufacturer goods in the United States and have ready access to a train yard would be drawn to the site in Selkirk, Coghill said.
"We believe two of the biggest drivers of investments in 2023 will be re-shoring and decarbonization," Coghill said. "We can tackle both by focusing on infrastructure that's already in place. We view the CSX rail yard as an economic engine that's being under utilized."
The rail yard, he added, can ship goods to more than 30 million people within a 500-mile radius.
Although there are other manufacturers nearby — fiberglass manufacturer Owens Corning and SABIC Innovative Chemicals — Coghill said it's been many years since there has been new construction.
"We would like to get a tenant before we build," Coghill said. "We're out in the market looking for a tenant now, working with a team at Jones Lang LaSalle."
Tax exemptions will be sought from the Bethlehem Industrial Development Agency to offset the development costs.
The investors have a contract to purchase the land from Bill McNeary IV, president and CEO of Logistics One in Saratoga Springs.
BBL Construction Services LLC is the applicant/builder. The design engineer is Verity Engineering of Troy."
Also...Short-term-rental concerns aired at Kingston hearing:
https://www.dailyfreeman.com/2023/02..._content=alert
"Monday night’s public hearing on rezoning was dominated by concerns over short-term rentals’ effects on the city’s inhabitants and the proposed zoning codes’ effects on the city.
The city declared a housing emergency last November. Some renters who claim their housing was imperiled said the rise in short-term rentals, or Airbnbs, are driving housing issues also with rental increases.
Kingston resident Cheryl Schneider shared that she believes that the current payment-in-lieu-of-affordable housing system is backward and that short-term rentals must be banned.
“We can’t afford to do this,” she said. “We can’t afford to have all the people we love leave this city. We can’t afford to let all the people who can work the small businesses leave this city.”
Under the city’s rezoning plan, short-term rentals are allowed with stipulations. There are three categorizations of short-term rental permits: One for full operation, one for short-term rentals that exist within a dwelling with a full-time resident, and a third for short-term rentals that limits them to operate for only 30 days of the year.
The full-operation permits, under the proposed zoning code, are available on a limited basis and won’t exceed more than 1% of available housing available based on the latest American Community Survey data, which is about 100 units. The only exceptions are those with permits grandfathered in after operating before July 15, 2021.
Residents at the hearing also commented on the nature of the form-based zoning code itself. To simplify, form-based codes focus on the form of buildings, essentially what they are, rather than a traditional zoning code, which zones areas for specific uses like commerce or residential living.
A byproduct of this zoning code is that people will be able to build a larger variety of buildings closer to homes, something that appears to rankle some homeowners who are concerned about the trickle-down effect of such a plan.
Kingston resident Eileen Katatsky said, “Families have made perhaps their greatest personal commitment and financial investment. Their expectations were for continuity, not a mashup of housing types like small multiplex with up to six units — no limit to the number of bedrooms — or cottage courts with up to nine individual buildings or corner stores with offices and apartments on the upper floors, just to name a few.”
Bartek Starodaj, the city’s director of Housing Initiatives, was at the hearing and said that currently 78% of the city is zoned in a way that doesn’t allow for affordable housing to be built.
The public comment period for rezoning will continue until Saturday, Feb. 18, and residents can email comments to the city clerk at
emtinti@kingston-ny.gov or drop them off at the clerk’s office at 420 Broadway."
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
