FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 1, 2024
Kingston Project Awarded $550,000 from Restore New York Initiative
KINGSTON, NY – Mayor Steven T. Noble is pleased to announce that a Kingston project has been awarded $550,000 from the Empire State Development’s Restore New York Communities Initiative.
Governor Kathy Hochul announced that Kingston Standard Brewing Company will receive $550,000 to reconstruct a portion of an adjacent commercial building, half of which is vacant. The renovation and expansion will result in more than 5,000 square feet of operational space, transforming the blighted, unused space into a cutting-edge zero fossil fuel facility. The project will incorporate CO2 recapture, electric stream generation, and an offsite community solar farm, to become a pioneering example of environmentally conscious craft beer manufacturing. The project will create eight new full-time manufacturing and administrative jobs.
“We were so pleased to support Kingston Standard in their application for this year’s round of Restore New York grants, which will help with the growth of their business and the overall economic revitalization happening across Midtown Kingston,” said Mayor Noble. “Kingston Standard, which sits on the Empire State Trail, just steps from the Kingston Point Rail Trail, is already a great example of adaptive reuse of existing spaces that are transformed into exciting new opportunities. We look forward to seeing their expansion!”
“We are excited to get underway with this project and the next stage of the Kingston Standard story,” said Tait Simpson, co-owner of Kingston Standard Brewing Company. “We feel privileged to have the support from our neighborhood, our amazing customers, the City of Kingston, and now New York State.”
New York State’s Restore New York Communities Initiative supports municipal revitalization efforts with funds to help remove and reduce blight, reinvigorate communities, and generate new residential and economic opportunities statewide. The program, administered by Empire State Development, is designed to help local governments encourage new commercial investments through community revitalization, growing local housing, and putting properties back on the tax rolls to increase the local tax base.
Past Restore NY Grant awards in Kingston include $1.15 million to support the St. Joseph’s Lofts project in Uptown Kingston, an adaptive reuse project to a former schoolhouse into three floors of office space and an event center. In 2022, $1.5 million was awarded for The Center for Photography at Woodstock to adaptively reuse and rehabilitate the 40,000 square foot former cigar factory in Midtown Kingston, and $840,000 for the Barrel Factory Lofts Project, an adaptive reuse of a 120-year-old warehouse in Midtown into a mix of live-work spaces for artists, commercial flex spaces, and amenities spaces. In 2017, a Restore New York grant assisted with the cost of demolition of the former Mid-City Lanes bowling alley at 20 Cedar Street, the now-home of RUPCO’s Energy Square, a mixed-use residential, commercial, and nonprofit space.
“Revitalizing and rehabilitating vacant and blighted areas of our communities brings new energy and investments that support local and regional growth,” Governor Hochul said. “Restore New York helps our municipalities plan for the future by catalyzing economic growth and supporting housing, businesses and cultural spaces. We are further unlocking the potential of these sites and communities across New York."
For Governor Hochul’s full announcement, visit https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-announces-more-641-million-awarded-through-restore-new-york-communities.