Common Council approves sale of 46 Grand Street to Kingston City Land Bank with affordability conditions

The Kingston Common Council’s Finance Committee voted unanimously to sell 46 Grand Street to the Kingston City Land Bank for $1, attaching affordability conditions that at least one unit be reserved at 60% of area median income (AMI) and the remaining units be at or below 80% AMI.

The decision followed two competing public presentations. Emily Seewall, cofounder of the COOP concept (doing business as Fly the Coop Inc.), and Tina Diurna, the organization’s cofounder and a licensed social worker, described a plan to renovate the multiuse building as a combined vocational training and youth cooperative housing site for local young adults. "This will be a project for our concept headquarters where we can run the program for community, as well as Kingston youth," Seewall said during the presentation. Diurna said the housing component would target ages 21 to 24 and include supportive services: "There will be staff on-site, part time and full time," she said, adding that the organization hopes to include an LCSW in one of the on-site offices.

Architect Karen Reynolds reviewed preliminary code and design findings and an…