A project in Poughkeepsie that was decades in the making has come to a close, as a developer who planned to build on Poughkeepsie’s southernmost waterfront is being paid handsomely by the city to drop plans for the site.
"It’s a snag, it really is. It’s a bummer," Mayor Rob Rolison said.
For 20 years, developer Joe Bonura Jr. and his company had plans to develop 14 waterfront acres in the city. But now, the common council is paying him $600,000 to abandon the plans.
"We’re really sad that it has come to this," Bonura said. "We really had every intention of building a really amazing project, and giving the city of Poughkeepsie exactly what it asked for."
The plans included developing the site into a business district. But when they added plans to build apartments, the common council demanded the developer get started on their commercial project plans and reapply to create housing, or lose the project altogether.
What You Need To Know
- Developer Joseph Bonura Jr. said his company has been working on the project for over 20 years
- The mayor is hopeful they can begin to hear new proposals for the site in early fall
- The 14-acre site is located on Poughkeepsie's southernmost waterfront
Bonura later sued the IDA and council.
The city will have to pay the developer an additional sum in 2023 that will be determined in that year’s budget. The developer will still get to use the marina and dock storage at the site.
"We can move forward, we can see this site developed," Councilmember at Large Sarah Salem said. "It’s unfortunate it came to this point where we had to spend tax dollars to come to this, however, this person had more than 10 years to get something moving."
Salem said it's time for the city to move on and figure out a new plan for the site.
"The plan had been proposed more than 10 years ago, and then the developer, market conditions changed, the developer wanted to make a change of the plan, so the council told the developer to go back through the process as any other person would go, however, he did not want to do that," Salem said.
Bonura said the common council stymied his plans.
"That is 100 percent untrue," he said. "We were ready, willing and able to build this project multiple different times. We needed the common council to let us take action. They refused to let us even make a presentation."
"It’s vacant because, in my opinion, people couldn’t get together to try to work out a project, and I’m not putting that on Mr. Bonura," Rolison said. "I’m putting it on the entities within the city of Poughkeepsie, and again in my opinion, couldn’t come to an agreement, couldn’t come to the same page, sometimes couldn’t even get to the table to try to work through these things."
Bonura planned for the site to be a mixed-use commercial and residential space. Now that he’s out, Salem and the mayor want to see the site become a destination and a source of tax revenue for the city.
"Something that does stimulate the economy in some way, something that draws people off the train into the site, but something, too, that our current residents can enjoy," Salem said.
Salem said residents want to be able to use the space in the meantime for leisure and recreation.
"As far as getting this site open, just so that people can just walk, we want to see that happen like tomorrow," Salem said.
Rolison said not so fast.
"We just can’t open the gates to a site that is very large, very difficult to police and very difficult to maintain," he said.
The mayor said he’s hopeful the city can begin to hear new proposals for development for the site in early fall.