It’s a first step, but a huge one:
Friday, with just a touch of ceremony, supervisors signed a purchase agreement to sell the old jail to CSD Housing, which hopes to turn it into 55-60 units of affordable apartments.
Mike Newman, CSD director of Development, said afterwards that the agreement lets them begin their due diligence at the Village of Schoharie site.
It’s “absolutely” a viable site, Mr. Newman said, in part because it’s close to downtown.
But they’ll also need to look at the cost of things like demolition, asbestos removal, and moving the project out of the flood plain, all while asking the question:
Is there anything that makes it cost-prohibitive?
The purchase agreement sells the old jail for $25,000, said Seward Supervisor Earlin Rosa, chair of the Homelessness Committee.
“We just passed the beginning of the beginning,” Mr. Rosa said.
“Now, it’s up to CSD.”
There’s a long timeline for doing those site studies, Mr. Newman said, with the option for extending it if they need more time.
It will likely take two to three years before any construction begins, Mr. Rosa said, but now that the contract’s been signed, his Homelessness Committee is freed up to begin looking at other projects on other sites.
CSD has completed 16 or 17 similar projects across the state, Mr. Newman said.
“This is what we do.”
Supervisors had been in negotiations with CSD since February and the agreement signed Friday took five back-and-forths, Mr. Rosa said.
“It will not cost the county anything at any time,” he said—long a concern. “We are ready to move forward. We’ve finally come to a point where it’s exactly what we need it to be.”
Mr. Rosa said supervisors will be able to share their “vision” for the site with CSD; because it’s in a flood plain, no apartments can be built on the first floor of the old jail he said, freeing it up for medical offices or even a grocery store or retail.
“All of it will benefit the Village of Schoharie,” he said.
It was almost exactly a year ago that a small group of supervisors—including Mr. Rosa and Blenheim Supervisor Don Airey--toured CSD’s Friendship Lodge in Johnstown and liked what they saw.
Village of Schoharie Mayor and Deputy Mayor Colleen Henry and Peter Johnson also toured and were impressed with CSD’s Holland Circle in Amsterdam.
Yearly maintenance at the old jail is costing the county $100,000, plus it needs a new roof,
Only Fulton Supervisor Phil Skowfoe voted against authorizing supervisors’ chair Bill Federice to sign the agreement with CSD.