Lace Curtain Mill Moving Forward

I'm sure this is a well-intentioned plan. But I also wonder whether this could end up as another RUPCO boondoggle like the equally well-intentioned Buttermilk Falls:

A housing renovation project at a former lace curtain factory in Midtown will not harm the environment, the city Planning Board has concluded.

The board made the declaration in a unanimous vote on Monday, according to City Planner Suzanne Cahill.

Cahill said the project, proposed by the Rural Ulster Preservation Co. (RUPCO) still needs site plan approval and is expected to be further reviewed by the Planning Board at a meeting in September.

Has there been any kind of demographic study to determine if there's enough demand for such housing in Kingston? Again, there are lots of low income folks, of the non-artist variety, who are also in need of affordable housing. Shouldn't their needs take priority over a project like this one?

The Buttermilk Falls town homes in Ellenville sit mostly empty several years after their completion. RUPCO cannot give them away, apparently. Grated, the housing market took a dive during the period in which the project was built. But last I'd heard they had sold only one or two units out of a total of 15.

Is this going to be another beautifully renovated, yet mostly empty, project? And at $15 million, we're talking four times what the Buttermilk Falls project cost. I hope they've actually done their homework this time.