NEWBURGH – Mill Street Partners, LLC, the company that wants to develop the Mid Broadway project including 91 affordable rental apartments and 13,800 square feet of retail space on city-owned property on Lower Broadway, served the City of Newburgh with a notice of default.
The notice says the city has disregarded its obligations as outlined in a legally binding development agreement between the city and the company. It also says the city’s defaults “include unreasonably delaying Mill Street’s efforts to secure public funding for the project” and that Newburgh officials failed to modify the city zoning code to facilitate the project, and refuses to complete the review process for the project in a timely manner.
The notice of default indicates if the city does not immediately “cure” the defaults, Mill Street could file a lawsuit seeking over $31 million in damages.
Patrick Normoyle, a principal of Mill Street Partners, said they agreed with the city as far back as October 2012 to cooperate in the redevelopment of the abandoned site. He said his company has invested “a tremendous amount of time and money in this public/private partnership to make the project a success.”
Normoyle said they have made all of the changes to the project requested by the city and provided the planning board with complete environmental, engineering and planning materials as required under the agreement. “We are surprised and disappointed that certain officials in the city have been determined to stall the development process and to prevent us from bringing positive change to the city.”
Normoyle said he hopes the notice of default will “encourage the city to correct course, and allow us to continue as partners in what we believe is a great opportunity for the city to provide high quality housing, jobs, and a full-service grocery store to city residents.”
Architect’s rendering of Mid-Broadway project
The apartments proposed would include a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments with rents capped so residents will not pay more than 30 percent of their income as rent. Mill Street Partners expects the majority of residents would already live in the city. The project would also include a full-service supermarket, as well as job training and a placement program for city residents.
Mill Street Partners is completing a housing project in the City of Middletown, on Mill Street, where an abandoned old industrial building is being converted into rental apartments.
