Update on development projects, and their requests for extensions
We publish these project updates at least once a year and sometimes more often if there’s enough activity to report. Since our last update in November there’s been a lot of activity — but not necessarily building. Half of these projects either appear to have stalled or have requested extensions of their approvals due to delays.
45 Beekman St.
Number of units: 64 apartments
Status: The Planning Board will continue its review on Tuesday (July 9) of an application to demolish an existing structure and build two four-story, mixed-use buildings at one of Beacon’s busiest intersections, the corner of Wolcott Avenue (Route 9D) and Beekman Street. The buildings are proposed to feature exterior covered arcade walkways that would lead to 15,000 square feet of first-floor commercial space. A garage level beneath one of the buildings would include 41 parking spaces while plans call for the second building to have 47 surface spaces.
416-420 Main St.
Number of units: 1 apartment
Status: The City Council on Monday (July 1) approved a six-month extension of the special-use permit originally approved in 2021 for this four-story Main Street building. Construction is about 80 percent complete on the project, a merger of two lots that will include retail on the ground floor, office space on the second and third and a single apartment on a recessed fourth floor. It is expected to be complete within six months.
364 Main St.
Number of units: 20 apartments
Status: The Planning Board approved this three-story mixed-use proposal in April 2022. It will replace the former Citizens Bank on Main Street with retail on the ground floor and 20 apartments on the second and third. We reported in November that construction was expected to begin in the spring but it has not. The bank was razed months ago; all that remains inside fencing at the site are support beams and the bank vault.
Beacon Commons (16 W. Main St.)
Number of units: 62 apartments
Status: Approved in November 2022, this project at the corner of West Main and Bank streets received a special-use permit allowing parking on the adjacent residentially zoned parcel. It received six-month extensions of the permit in November and in May. Explaining the delay, the architect told the Planning Board in May that the developer was “working with the construction team and finalizing some logistics.”
2 Cross St.
Number of units: 18 apartments
Status: The Planning Board approved this project, a three-story building at the corner of Main and Cross streets, in 2022. It will include retail on the street level and 18 apartments on the two top floors. Funding delays threatened to upend plans to rent all 18 units at below-market rates, but the project was awarded $2.5 million through a state housing fund in May, keeping it affordable. The developer said at the time that he hoped construction would begin in a matter of weeks.
Mirbeau Spa
Number of units: N/A
Status: Mirbeau plans to restore the 64-acre Tioronda Estate, which includes the former Craig House psychiatric hospital, with a luxury spa and hotel with a restaurant, rental cottages and other amenities. The Planning Board held a public hearing this spring on amendments to the site plan, including the decision to renovate, rather than demolish, a 1978 dining wing because of construction and material costs. Mirbeau also elected not to build seven ground-floor “grotto” rental rooms, among other minor changes. The company hopes to open the new facility in 2025. According to documents submitted to the Planning Board, Mirbeau will improve the left-turn lane entering the site from Route 9D in June 2025.
Prophecy Hall
Number of units: N/A
Status: After more than two years of deliberation, the Planning Board last year approved the conversion of the former Reformed Church of Beacon into a hotel, restaurant and event center. Last month, the board agreed to two six-month extensions of the project’s special-use permit. Prophecy officials spent considerable time securing Foster Supply Hospitality as the hotel operator and will soon apply for a building permit, a project attorney said. Only church events, such as worship services and weddings, are allowed at the site until the hotel receives its certificate of occupancy from the city.
Beacon Views
Number of units: 37 townhouses
Status: This project near Conklin Street was approved in July 2022, after many delays over questions about how it would affect wetlands on the site. Project officials have secured a permit for construction from the Army Corps of Engineers, which regulates activity in waterways and wetlands, and are now working with the Dutchess County Health Department on approval of sewer and water connections. The Planning Board has granted the developer at least five 90-day extensions of the site plan and subdivision approval, including two 90-day extensions approved last month.
536 Main St.
Number of units: N/A
Status: The Planning Board approved this proposal a year ago to develop a vacant Main Street lot with a three-story commercial building with showroom space for Warp & Weft, a custom and designer rug business. Last month the board granted the project a one-year extension of its site plan approval while the developer negotiates construction access agreements with two neighbors.
The Mews at Beacon
Number of units: 9 condominiums
Status: This Eliza Street development was approved in 2019 and will feature loft-like condos erected around a central landscaped courtyard. We reported in November that while construction was 70 percent complete, the developer was finalizing a new round of financing. A representative said this week that the developer has approached another lender and hopes to have new financing in place soon.
Cooper’s (47 E. Main St.)
Number of units: N/A
Status: Cooper’s, the bar and restaurant that earlier this year moved into the former Dogwood building on East Main Street, applied to the Planning Board to construct a 555-square-foot rooftop deck for outdoor dining. Planning consultant Natalie Quinn told the board last month that the application will likely require variances due to its size and setback. The applicant has proposed a shadowbox fence around the deck and indicated it will limit rooftop dining hours and have no outdoor music.
19 Henry St.
Number of units: 4 townhouses
Status: The Planning Board will continue its review on Tuesday of an application to demolish a single-family home with accessory structures and build four townhomes on a Henry Street lot, a block from Main Street. Each townhouse will feature a “modern Victorian architectural style,” according to materials submitted to the board. The townhouses have been shifted 10 feet closer to Henry Street to better align with development in the area, with landscaping added to shield abutting properties. Each unit is proposed to have a separate driveway.
409 Fishkill Ave.
Number of units: N/A
Status: The Planning Board approved this project in April. Soka Gakkai International, a Buddhist organization, is leasing another building owned and previously used by Healey Brothers. SGI plans no new construction but will erect a 6-foot stockade fence to keep lights from spilling over onto adjacent residences on Mead Avenue. The group plans to open a worship center at the site in late 2024 or early 2025, an SGI representative said.
410 Fishkill Ave.
Number of units: N/A
Status: The Planning Board in June approved a request from Carvana, an online used-car retailer, to use this parcel, which is owned by the Healey Brothers auto dealerships. In May, the Zoning Board of Appeals said it would allow Carvana to have 63 parking spaces at the site, rather than the 146 required by the city code. (The City Council is considering a proposal that would eliminate minimum parking requirements in some parts of Beacon.)
Carvana will use landscaping planters and concrete wheel stops as buffers along the majority of the site’s 500-foot frontage on Fishkill Avenue. Planning consultant Natalie Quinn told the board last month that once Fishkill Avenue is re-striped after paving, the city will regain several feet of buffer — potentially enough for an amenity such as a sidewalk — where Healey had spilled over beyond its property line.
248 Tioronda Ave.
Number of units: 64 apartments
Status: The Planning Board approved this project, which also includes 25,400 square feet of commercial space, in 2020. The board in May approved an amended site plan that moved a planned segment of the Fishkill Creek Greenway and Heritage Trail away from flood-prone areas.
