POUGHKEEPSIE – The owners of the Admiral Halsey Senior Village apartment complex on Main Street in Poughkeepsie are looking to add a substantial addition to the 135 Main Street property. Omni New York LLC (“Omni”), a real estate development company specializing in affordable housing, together with Hudson River Housing, announced the plans this week.
They call for a second senior housing complex adjacent to Admiral Halsey Senior Village, billed as Admiral Halsey Senior Village II and the developers claim that it will bring a “much-needed influx of affordable senior and frail elderly rentals to the city of Poughkeepsie”. The property will be managed by Omni affiliate, Reliant Realty Services LLC, which manages the existing facility.
The new building will be four to five stories, comprised of about 63,000-square-feet providing below-market rental housing for seniors age 62 and older. There will be 24 studios and 48 one-bedroom units. Of the 72 units, 36 units will be dedicated to frail-elderly tenants who are lacking safe and accessible housing in the city. The partnership with Hudson River Housing will provide much-needed services for residents, including shuttles to grocery stores and medical appointments; an on-call nursing staff for elderly tenants, exercise and mobility classes, as well as computer and money management courses.
The building, according to the developers, will be constructed with sustainable and energy-conserving materials and outfitted with efficient appliances and fixtures and will be built adjacent to Admiral Halsey on some of the property’s undeveloped land.
“We look forward to working closely with city officials to bring Admiral Halsey II to fruition, particularly since Dutchess County has a less than one percent vacancy rate and most options that exist are cost-prohibitive for seniors,” said Omni New York Managing Director Eugene Schneur. “It is our company mission to bring quality, affordable housing to communities that need it, and to enhance those communities while we do so.”
“Hudson River Housing has a long-standing commitment to providing safe, quality housing and compassionate services aimed at supporting the individuals and families we work with throughout the Mid-Hudson region. We are grateful to partner with Omni New York on this project and look forward to the opportunity to bring much-needed affordable housing and services to the elderly of our community,” said Christa Hines, executive director, Hudson River Housing.
The existing high-rise Halsey building has come under repeated scrutiny by city officials after complaints of sub-standard conditions by tenants and unsafe conditions flagged by City of Poughkeepsie firefighters. In the summer of 2020, Poughkeepsie Mayor Rob Rolison and Councilman Chris Petsas visited the building after receiving complaints from elderly residents.
Tenants had called city leaders after numerous issues with the tower’s two elevators caused elderly residents to be trapped between floors for extended periods, until city firefighters were able to extricate them. One 85-year-old tenant with a heart condition was trapped in the elevator for 30 minutes until being rescued by the firefighters. Several other elderly residents in wheelchairs told Rolison, Petsas, and Mid-Hudson News that they were forced to stay on the ground floor because the elevators were repeatedly out of service. The seniors pointed out that the management company kept the first-floor bathrooms locked and inaccessible, causing further distress for the tenants that were unable to get to their apartments. The full story can be found here.
After meeting with the tenants and office staff in 2020, Rolison called the conditions “unacceptable.” He said he would contact both Reliant and Omni “to demand that the conditions are improved for the tenants, many of whom are elderly.”
Petsas was infuriated by the conditions at the time and claimed that since Omni took over in 2007, conditions have deteriorated. “Years ago, this building was filled with senior citizens. Now they are renting to younger tenants that are destroying the quality of life.” He said there have been “overdoses in the building and tenants dealing drugs. The police rarely needed to respond to the building until Reliant started running it. Our seniors deserve better living conditions than the management company is providing.”
The company listed as security for the building is also a subsidiary of Omni; Reliant Safety.
