A long-vacant corner of Midtown Kingston now has 100 new apartments.
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Oct. 2 that Barrel Factory Apartments, a $24 million mixed-use, mixed-income building at 110 Cornell St., is complete, according to the governor's office. The four-story building has 80 market-rate apartments and 20 affordable to households earning up to 80% of area median income, plus street-level retail on Cornell Street.
"New York's investment through the Mid-Hudson Momentum Fund helped advance this mixed-use development and expand the housing supply in the heart of Kingston," Hochul said.
Second phase of a bigger redevelopment
The building is the second phase of the Barrel Factory Complex, MHV Development's redevelopment of vacant and underused properties in Midtown.
The first phase was a $4.6 million adaptive reuse of the 120-year-old Kingston Barrel Factory, which had sat empty for about 15 years. Backed by an $840,000 Restore New York Communities Initiative grant, it created 12 affordable apartments, about 3,500 square feet of commercial flex space and shared amenities.
Together, the two phases have produced 112 homes, including 32 affordable units.
The new building's leasing website describes open-concept studio, one- and two-bedroom floor plans with large grid-style windows, a fitness studio, easy access to the complex's retail and views of the Catskill Mountains.
The project also restored The Barn at the Barrel Factory, a roughly 21,000-square-foot former warehouse now leased to Free to Thrift and other professional and maker tenants. The state says The Barn could support up to 20 jobs.
How it was financed
Empire State Development awarded a $4.78 million Mid-Hudson Momentum Fund grant for the new building. Counting the earlier Restore New York grant, the state has put $5.62 million into the Barrel Factory Complex.
The Community Preservation Corporation, a New York-based nonprofit multifamily lender, provided $19.5 million in construction financing and $16.3 million in Freddie Mac permanent financing.
Put another way, the state grant covered about a fifth of the $24 million cost, and CPC's construction loan covered roughly 80%. The state's announcement listed no other public financing for the new building.
"The Barrel Factory Apartments are a powerful example of how thoughtful redevelopment can breathe new life into historic properties while creating housing that communities need today," said Nicole Ferreira, CPC's chief business officer.
Danny Sirotkin, a partner at MHV Development, said the Momentum Fund award "has been instrumental in bringing the Barrel Factory Apartments to life," and thanked the city for "partnership and shared vision in transforming this underused site."
Hope Knight, president and CEO of Empire State Development, said the project "brings together new housing, commercial activity and the productive reuse of long-vacant properties in one coordinated redevelopment."
Kingston Mayor Steve Noble called it "a great example of how we can transform underutilized properties into places that strengthen our community."
Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger said seeing the complex finished "is an incredible moment for Midtown Kingston."
"What was once a long-abandoned historic property has now been transformed into affordable live/work space, commercial storefronts, and a new 100-unit mixed-income building," she said.
State Sen. Michelle Hinchey, who said she fought for state budget funding for the project, called it "a great model for mixed-income, mixed-use housing."
The Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council's co-chairs, Marsha Gordon and Kristine Young, said the complex will strengthen the neighborhood and support continued growth.
The state's announcement did not name a general contractor for either phase.
Why it matters for Contractors
Barrel Factory is a good example of the mid-size, mixed-income work that's filling the Hudson Valley pipeline: a four-story building with retail on the ground floor, financed with a state grant and private lending, with most of the apartments at market rate. Projects like this one sit in the sweet spot for regional contractors, big enough for steady work in framing, concrete, MEP and finishes, but not so big that only the largest firms can compete. The complex also shows two kinds of work on one site: new construction next door to historic adaptive reuse and a restored warehouse. Contractors who can handle both, from structural repair and masonry to new wood-frame or podium construction, are well positioned as Kingston and other Mid-Hudson towns keep turning vacant industrial properties into housing.