Hudson’s two public housing properties are in need of a revamp and the Columbia County city is closing in on deciding what developer will take charge of the project.
The Hudson Housing Authority is set to announce the winning developer to rebuild the city’s public housing during an April 17 meeting, the Times Union reported. There are five developers in the running, though their identities have not been disclosed.
The HHA issued a Request for Qualifications in November. That differs from a Request for Proposals, which require construction plans for a project to be submitted; in the case of the RFQ, the public housing authority wanted to know what qualified a company to develop plans for new affordable housing options.
As it stands, there are only two HHA buildings in the city, which include a total 131 units.
Bliss Towers and Columbia Apartments are both turning 50 years old this year — and showing it. Two years ago, nearly one-fifth of those units were taken offline. At Bliss, rainwater frequently leaks into apartments through the building facade.
The goal for the HHA’s project is for a developer to build new apartments and move HHA tenants into them. The old buildings can then be demolished and mixed-income housing can rise in its place.
The project would be a collaboration between the city and the developer. The HHA has eyed multiple sites where it can buy land from the city for the project, but won’t settle on any purchases until the developer is chosen.
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Hudson previously tried building public housing across the street from Bliss a few years ago, receiving $800,000 as part of a downtown revitalization grant in 2017. The plan was forced to be abandoned, however, due to poor soil conditions at the job site.
Funding for the latest project is not in place, but will likely come from grants and state funding, according to HHA executive director Jeffrey Dodson.
— Holden Walter-Warner