FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 23, 2024

City of Kingston Grants Office Accepting Restore NY Grant Proposals

KINGSTON, NY – Mayor Steven T. Noble is pleased to announce the City of Kingston’s Office of Grants Management is gathering proposals for possible submission to the Empire State Development (ESD) Restore NY Communities Initiative grant program.

Kingston’s Office of Grants Management will accept proposals and, as required by ESD, will submit the two strongest concepts in an initial Intent to Apply pre-screening phase.

The Restore NY grant program provides municipalities with financial assistance for the revitalization of commercial and residential properties for projects involving the demolition, deconstruction, rehabilitation and/or reconstruction of vacant, abandoned, condemned and surplus properties.

“The Restore NY grant is a great opportunity for local businesses and organizations to make substantial improvements to structures in disrepair,” said Mayor Noble. “With Restore NY funding, we have been able to support projects that revitalize neighborhoods, encourage economic growth and community development, and create new business and housing opportunities. I encourage our local community groups, organizations, and developers with project ideas to submit a proposal for this next round of funding.”

“We are revitalizing communities across New York State through the Restore New York Communities Initiative – giving towns and cities the chance to build a future that is safer, more affordable, and more livable,” Governor Hochul said in her press release. “With Upstate municipalities still working to recover from major damage caused by July’s extreme weather, we’re prioritizing those projects and looking to other transformational opportunities that will better the lives of residents and businesses everywhere.”

Once submitted by the City of Kingston, applications are scored against specific ESD guidelines and how strongly they meet the program goals to encourage commercial investment and improve the local housing stock. Priority will be given to projects in Empire Zones and Brownfield Opportunity Areas and those that leverage other state or federal redevelopment, remediation, or planning programs. Priority will be given to projects from economically distressed communities. A minimum 10% match from the organization is required.

All proposals should meet the Restore NY program guidelines, which can be found here. 

Interested organizations should complete the City's short project form with the following information by 12:00pm on October 16, 2024:

• Name of Development Company/Organization
• Name of Project
• Property Address(es)
• Estimated Project Cost
• Brief Project Description (approximately 300 words)

Questions regarding proposal concepts can be directed to Grants Director Ruth Ann Devitt-Frank at [email protected] or 845-334-3962.

Past City of Kingston Restore NY Grant awards include:

• Kingston Standard Brewing Company– to reconstruct a portion of an adjacent commercial building, adding more than 5,000 square feet of operational space and creating 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 and will create eight new full-time jobs. ($550,000 award)
• St. Joseph’s Lofts project-- to support an adaptive reuse project to a renovate a former schoolhouse in Uptown Kingston into three floors of office space and an event center. ($1.15 million award)
• The Center for Photography at Woodstock-- in 2022, was awarded for to adaptively reuse and rehabilitate the 40,000 square feet former cigar factory in Midtown Kingston, ($1.5 million award)
• Barrel Factory Lofts Project-- 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. ($840,000 award)
• In 2017, the demolition of the former Mid-City Lanes bowling alley to create RUPCO’s Energy Square, a mixed-use residential, commercial, and nonprofit space. ($500,000)
• The Kingstonian-- mixed-used development that will transform an underutilized site at Fair and Wall St. by adding 143 residential units (10% affordable workforce housing); 8,500 square feet of commercial space; a 32-room hotel; and a 420-space parking garage with 250 spaces dedicated for public use. 

Read Governor Hochul’s announcement here: https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-announces-applications-50-million-restore-new-york-program-will-launch-monday