Architect's rendering

POUGHKEEPSIE – A $100 million condominium development plan was presented Tuesday night by O'Neill Group-Dutton LLC, in Poughkeepsie.

Dubbed "One Dutchess Avenue," the 384-unit luxury riverfront community is proposed for a 12-acre site located just north of the Walkway Over the Hudson. Residences will be priced at about $300,000 each.

Project spokesman Louis Kaufman said the target buyers will be young professionals and those seeking to downsize from their current homes.

"Not only will you have this new population, but you're also going to have people living on the waterfront. It has been shown that the best way to police the waterfront is to have eyes and ears on it,” Kaufman said.

Developers say that the final result of their endeavor "will herald Poughkeepsie’s renaissance and economic vitality."

The project includes commercial space of nearly 20,000 square feet, which will bring an estimated 30 permanent jobs to the area.

If approved, construction will last three years and generate at least 500 jobs, based on data from the New York State Department of Labor. When finished, the project will feature breathtaking views of the Hudson, and reclaim 1,400 feet of shoreline for a public park.

The residential parcel was purchased in October, 2004, while a 75-foot wide strip remains in public hands, Developers receive tax credits for cleaning up a contaminated Brownfield situated at the site of a former lumber yard there. DEC approved the remediation plan last June.

While further grants are being sought for the park, only private investment money will be spent for the residential area.

"There is a threshold below which we cannot build this development, and effectuate the cleanup of these Brownfields," said Kaufman. "The last thing we want is a failed project."

He was referring the numerous revisions and millions invested in the plan so far. "We hope it will be received and accepted," Kaufman told the audience, including Poughkeepsie mayor John Tkazyik. "Once we get through the rezoning of the property, the planning board will refine any plan we have now."

Two-thirds of the land sits in the city, with the remainder in the Town of Poughkeepsie. The city is lead agency. Two mid-rise buildings are proposed for the city portion, set back 100 feet from the river.