POUGHKEEPSIE – City officials in Poughkeepsie have decided not to move forward at this time with the submissions received concerning development of the 14-acre DeLaval site on the city’s southern waterfront.
The property is the last parcel of undeveloped land in the city.
Two proposals were received – Chai Developers, led by Bernard Kohn, and Southern Waterfront Development LLC., led by Joseph Bonura, Jr.
Mayor Marc Nelson will be leaving office after this year and he believes it would be best to leave the future of the site up to the new city leadership.
“Changes in administration can lead to policy changes and one of the problems with that development, I think, when it was being developed by Mr. Bonura when there were changes in administration, and that kind of derailed plans that had been committed to by prior leadership,” he said. “We want to avoid that and I think this was the right decision.”
Both the mayor’s position and common council seats are up for election in November.
Nelson expressed hope that the next administration would arrive at “the overarching goal of creating an anchor” on the property providing public space and water-related uses, driving tourism to bolster the local economy and complementing existing waterfront assets including Waryas Park and the Walkway Over the Hudson.
