Kingston Joins Re­vi­tal­ization Program to Rehab 'Zombie Prop­erties'

KINGSTON, N.Y. -- One building on Franklin Street in Kingston is an example of a so-called "zombie property," and Mayor Steve Noble said those kinds of vacant buildings can drag down a community.

"If you live in a neighborhood where you have three well-kept, well-maintained homes and then one home that's been vacant and empty and abandoned for a while, it can really be a negative to your neighborhood," Noble said.

That's why Kingston and Middletown will be a part of a new $22 million statewide program aimed at fighting blight, by helping home buyers who are interested in purchasing vacant, foreclosed, abandoned or distressed properties. The group RUPCO is administering the program in the Hudson Valley.

"The reason why the city of Kingston and the city of Middletown were chosen in the Hudson Valley is because we had a pretty high foreclosure rate and we had large enough inventory of vacant properties and our home ownership in both communities was hovering about 50 percent," said RUPCO VP of Housing Services Kathy Germain.

To qualify for the program, the properties do not have to be city-owned, but they must be vacant at the time of purchase. City officials said there are many incentives for home buyers.

" ... Homebuyers who are purchasing those homes with $20,000 grants, and in addition to that, they will be coupled with a renovation loan, so they will be able to make the repairs that are needed in the home," Germain said.

RUPCO says there are more than 300 properties in foreclosure in Kingston. The program will assist the purchase and renovations of up to 100 homes in the city over the next two years.

"A lot of these homes have been vacant for a while," Germain said. "They've been neglected; they may not have been winterized; so there’s a real need for the rehab component in this program."

Noble said the program will help the city attract more residents and investors. Governor Andrew Cuomo said this new program, combined with existing ones, makes more than $100 million available for similar efforts across the state.