POUGHKEEPSIE – The City of Poughkeepsie has extended the deadline for qualified developers to submit their vision for the 14-acre site on the city’s southern waterfront, commonly known as the DeLaval site. When released in January, the Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) was to be submitted by March 23, 2023 but is now extended until April 12, 2023. The requirements for submissions can be found here.
The DeLaval Site’s name is derived from the site’s former owner and occupant, the DeLaval Separator Company.
The 14-acre site is the last sizeable undeveloped parcel on the city’s waterfront, due to conflicts with previous developers and the city’s common council. In 2018 the Bonura Hospitality Group announced plans to create what was referred to as the “crowning jewel” of the then-revived waterfront. The project was to include a three-story building with a ground floor featuring retail and dining. The top two floors were going to have 50 apartments (original plan was for the top floor to be commercial). The revised plan included a promenade connecting the existing walkway between Shadows and the Hudson north to Kaal Rock. An amphitheater, public pool, and boat docks were also part of the plan that ended up in litigation, with the developer parting ways with the city in the summer of 2022.
The city’s goal is to identify qualified developers/organizations that have both the experience and financial and design/construction capabilities to be able to successfully complete a redevelopment project.
The city has completed a number of visioning exercises concerning the site and arrived at the overarching goal of creating an anchor on the southern waterfront — providing public space and water-related uses, driving tourism to bolster the local economy, and complementing existing waterfront assets, such as Waryas Park and the Walkway Over the Hudson, according to the city’s administration.
City officials said the RFEI may lead to a Request for Proposals (RFP) process that may result in an award of a preferred developer to negotiate a Development Agreement that will memorialize the terms and conditions for development. Accompanying appendices to the RFEI can be found here.
Proposals in response to the RFEI should be sent by 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 12 to Joe Donat, Interim Development Director, 62 Civic Center Plaza, 2nd Floor, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601. Please include five (5) hard copies and one (1) electronic copy of the proposal as part of your submission.
