Ulster County Development Corp. to market…
Ulster County Development Corp. to market county-owned building on Flatbush Ave. in Kingston
Photo by Tony Adamis
The Ulster County-owned building at 300 Flatbush Ave. in Kingston will be marketed by the Ulster County Development Corp.
By Patricia R. Doxsey | pdoxsey@freemanonline.com, Patricia Doxsey Freeman staff, Patricia Doxsey pattiatfreeman and Patricia Doxsey | Daily Freeman
PUBLISHED: June 19, 2014 at 3:00 p.m. | UPDATED: July 21, 2021 at 11:03 a.m.
KINGSTON>> A county-owned building at 300 Flatbush Ave. in Kingston will be transferred to the Ulster County Development Corp. over the objections of some county legislators who are concerned about who ultimately might buy the building.
The county Legislature voted 18-4 on Tuesday to transfer the property to the development corporation for marketing. The vote came after a public hearing that drew no comments.
Voting against the transfer were David Donaldson, D-Kingston, Tracey Bartels, D-Gardiner, Manna Jo Greene, D-Rosendale, and Richard Parete, D-Accord.
County offices that had been housed in the Flatbush Avenue building have been relocated under County Executive Michael Hein's Shared Taxpayer Relief through Innovative Visions in Education (STRIVE) project, which calls for moving the Ulster County Community College satellite campus from the Ulster County Business Resource Center in the town of Ulster to the former Sophie Finn Elementary School in Kingston and moving county offices into the vacant space in the town of Ulster complex.
In March, the Legislature authorized the county to borrow $366,085 to buy the Sophie Finn building, which is on Mary's Avenue, and 6 acres of surrounding land.
By transferring the Flatbush Avenue property to the Ulster County Development Corp., the property can be marketed and sold in a way not available to the county, which can only sell property at auction or in sealed bidding.
Hein has said that because the location, at the intersection of Flatbush Avenue and East Chester Street, is "a highly valued commercial corner," by marketing the building for sale, the county probably will receive better purchase offers than it would through the processes available to it without the aid of the development corporation.
Donaldson said the fact that the property is such a highly valued parcel is exactly why he opposed turning it over to an organization with no vested interest in doing what's best for the city of Kingston.
"It's really a very key piece of property in the city of Kingston," Donaldson said."It could make significant difference to the city of Kingston depending on what's put there."
Donaldson said he would have liked to have some city residents on the board that will be marketing the property and would have liked the county to put stipulations on what could be done with the site.
Legislator Jeanette Provenzano, also a Democrat from the city of Kingston, said the city's zoning law, not the county government, should dictate what goes on at the site
Patricia R. Doxsey
Patricia Doxsey Freeman staff
Patricia Doxsey pattiatfreeman
Patricia Doxsey
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