By PAUL KIRBY
Freeman staff
pkirby@freemanonline.com; twitter.com/PaulatFreeman

KINGSTON, N.Y. — City lawmakers will soon decide whether to authorize Mayor Shayne Gallo to seek a $2.5 million state grant to help pay for a promenade planned for the site of a large-scale private development along the Hudson River shoreline.

In turn, the developer — AVR Acquisition of Yonkers — has agreed to match that amount in an effort to, among other things, get the waterfront walkway built quicker for public access to the river, according to Ron Marquette, a spokesman for the firm.

Originally, the plans for the AVR project, known as The Hudson Landing,  did not include taxpayer funding for the promenade, Marquette said. Under the original plan, the promenade would have been built in stages over a 15-year period by AVR, he said.

The Common Council Laws and Rules Committee has already recommended that the full council endorse the plan to apply for the state grant, according to Alderman Robert Senor, D-Ward 8. The full council will vote on the proposal next month.

The Ulster Town Board has also signed on to the agreement, Marquette said.

Senor said that AVR has already invested about $10 million in the project, which was first proposed in 2002. In general, the plan has approval of the city’s Planning Board, but the company has not submitted specific site plans for different phases of the project.

Hudson Landing is to comprise 1,658 housing units on the former Tilcon property along the shore of the Hudson River, straddling the city of Kingston/town of Ulster border.

Marquette as well as Mayor Shayne Gallo said Monday that having the promenade built along the banks of the former Tilcon property would draw visitors to the city, boost sales tax revenues, and help AVR sell its housing.

Marquette said promenade would provide public access to the river similar to the Walkway Over the Hudson stretching from Highland to Poughkeepsie. The Hudson Landing promenade will be accessible to the public and  eventually deeded to the city, Marquette said.

“This would not be the Walkway Over the Hudson, but the walkway along the Hudson,” Marquette said. Continued...

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Gallo said the promenade would include gazebos, history exhibits, and benches. Gallo pointed out that AVR has also put aside 350 acres at the site as open space for public use.

Gallo also said the construction of the promenade would create jobs.

Hudson Landing first was proposed by AVR in 2002 and, after a lengthy application process, received final environmental approval from the Kingston Planning Board in December 2008.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held in October 2010 to mark the start of construction of a road leading from state Route 32 to the development site, but nothing has been built on the property.

Each phase of the project must be granted site plan approval. AVR has estimated Phase 1 will comprise 100 to 400 housing units.

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