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Greenberg Center and developer outline wellness hub with 63 supportive and emergency housing units
Summary
Presenters described a wellness hub that will include 35 permanent supportive apartments and a 28‑bed emergency shelter on land donated to the Greenberg Center; wetlands rule changes and mitigation work have delayed the project, and capital and operating funds are being sought from state and ARPA sources.
Michelle Roberts, director of the Greenberg Center for Justice, told the board the county and city have partnered with the center since 2020 to develop a wellness hub targeting people with high health‑care and social‑service needs. Roberts said a parcel was originally donated by Paul Colarusso and the project is meant to keep people out of repeated costly emergency care by offering housing and services closer to home.
"So what we found is that housing housing housing is really, at the heart of so many of these these stories where people are falling through the cracks," Roberts said, summarizing the mapping exercise that led to the hub concept. She said the team had planned short‑term temporary housing run by a vendor called Gateway but later decided the hub would not lease to that program, leaving more flexibility for the campus design.
Kevin O'Connor, CEO of Broadco, described building and service plans for the campus, saying the design includes 35 one‑bedroom permanent supportive apartments and a 28‑bed emergency shelter with private bedrooms and bathrooms, shared community space, a commercial kitchen providing three meals a day, and 24/7 on‑site staff. "35 units of permanent supportive housing, supported by Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative," O'Connor said when outlining the capital and operating commitments already secured.
Presenters said wetlands rules issued in January 2025 temporarily classified the original parcel as a wetland, prompting the project team to acquire additional land and redesign the site. Roberts said those rules were overturned about a month ago; the team nonetheless redesigned buildings around wetlands and plans indigenous plantings and mitigation to limit environmental impacts. Roberts also noted an eagle nest that previously complicated permitting is no longer present.
Organizers said they plan to accept referrals from the Columbia County Department of Social Services for both the emergency shelter and the permanent apartments, and that case management and transportation will be provided to link residents with services elsewhere in the county.
