Despite rejection, housing developer still has eyes on Essex County

Blue Line seeks new location after North Hudson backs away from $23M affordable housing project

By Tim Rowland

Blue Line Development will press ahead with plans for workforce housing in Essex County despite a setback in North Hudson, which has had a change of heart about a proposed apartment complex there.

Kevin Kavanaugh, owner of Blue Line, said he hopes to find a community more willing to host a housing project than North Hudson, which soured on the $23 million project, which would have built 40 affordable one- and two-bedroom apartments just off of the Northway’s Exit 29.

“Workforce housing is really needed (in Essex County),” Kavanaugh said. “We would not have had any trouble finding tenants.”

But North Hudson Supervisor Chris Clark, who took office after the project had received tentative approval, said “the townspeople were almost unanimously against it,” he said. 

Clark said the town, with a population of 240, was a bad fit, having inadequate infrastructure and utilities and a fire company without equipment to reach three-story buildings.

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Long-term rentals are critically lacking in the Adirondacks, and both housing advocates and the Adirondack Park Agency have suggested more dense housing developments in the park’s hamlets are necessary to help solve the problem.

But while dense development has succeeded in Lake Placid, it’s run into obstacles elsewhere, including Old Forge and most recently in Lake George, where workforce housing potentially aided by a state $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant is “losing traction,” according to the Lake George Mirror.

Lake George officials told the Mirror that some residents have become convinced that the workforce housing will be co-opted by the state to house illegal immigrants. New York City, struggling to house migrants sent from the southern border, have occasionally placed some in upstate hotels.

Setback in North Hudson proposed apartment complex

The North Hudson development had been proposed for 28 acres owned by Essex County near the old Frontier Town theme park. The county and Kavanaugh had agreed to a $150,000 sale price. Blue Line proposed the 40-unit complex — what it deemed the market would bear — but to qualify for the tax credits that would make the project workable, it needed 60. To make the numbers work, Blue Line proposed breaking the project in two, with 40 units in North Hudson and 20 more in another Essex County location.

Essex County supervisors, with the support of the North Hudson board at the time, gave tentative approval to the project in November, 2023. But earlier this month, in a split vote, the county withdrew its support, out of local courtesy to North Hudson.

Clark said his board has not officially voted against the project, but he expects it to as early as its March meeting. Kavanaugh said he has asked for a chance to make his case for the complex to the North Hudson board, but it was unclear if and when this would happen, Clark said he doubts anyone at the town level will change their minds.

Former North Hudson Supervisor Stephanie DeZalia was a supporter of the plan, and the town board had solicited input at two public meetings. The apartments will be rented on a sliding scale to people making from 35% to 80% of Area Median Income, or about $25,000 to $80,000 for a family of four.

Despite North Hudson’s sparse population, DeZalia said at the time it made sense for workforce housing because of its central location. North Hudson, for example, is less than a half hour’s drive from Elizabethtown, the county seat, and is just off the interstate highway.

Jim Monty, supervisor of the Town of Lewis, was one of four supervisors who voted against pulling the plug on the housing project pending more discussion of the North Hudson’s objections. “It’s a setback, but we also don’t want to go against the wishes of the town,” he said.

He added that the county has for years now been unable to fill a number of open positions for lack of housing.

“These are decent paying jobs with full benefits, but people don’t want to drive 50 to 60 miles to take them,” he said.

The other risk, Monty said, is that developers will be less inclined to invest in the Adirondacks if communities get in the habit of rejecting housing projects. “I can see how developers would think that — on top of that, we have enough bureaucracy as it is.”

Kavanaugh said high-end housing is what’s profitable, so that is all that’s being built. “The only housing starts are at the high end, and average people are struggling to build a new house. Building new homes right now is easier with state subsidies.”

Both Kavanaugh and Monty said they are optimistic the county can find two communities that can support sister projects meeting the 60-unit threshold for affordability.

And Kavanaugh said he hasn’t entirely given up on North Hudson. “I hope I get to make my case to the people,” he said. “This is something that’s genuinely good for the town.”

Photo at top: Kevin Kavanaugh, owner of Blue Line Development explains his proposed affordable-housing project in North Hudson to a meeting of the Essex County supervisors in October 2023. Photo by Tim Rowland