There was a difference of opinion in Common Council chambers about the progress at the historic Luckey Platt building at a City of Poughkeepsie council meeting this week.
Fire chief Kenneth Boyd, who oversees the buildings department, described the project as largely “on-track” at the Sept. 4 meeting, but Common Council member Erik Haight (R-2nd Ward) begged to differ.
“I’d say the project is grossly off-track,” said Haight, “but at least (developer Alma Realty) is clear on what they need to do.”
Boyd declined to estimate a new completion date; the ball, city officials remarked, was entirely in Alma Realty’s court on moving forward.
A stop-work order issued in March has not been lifted, and construction at the site is prohibited from going forward until certain buildings code violations are corrected.
Boyd described a productive meeting between building inspector George McGann and representatives of Alma Realty on July 2, from which both sides emerged with clarity and mutual understanding, which had been apparently been lacking in certain previous meetings, on what actions were required to move the project forward.
A fire last month at Ground Zero’s Deutsche Bank building in New York City spurred city officials’ concerns about the status of Luckey Platt’s own standpipe.
A failed standpipe, which runs up the height of a building and supplies water to firefighters on each floor, contributed to a treacherous seven-alarm fire at Deutsche Bank that took the lives of two firefighters.
In March, Luckey Platt’s standpipe was found to be incompatible with the fire department’s equipment. But Boyd said those issues have been corrected, and the pipe has been tested and certified.
The building department is also awaiting comprehensive plans on construction that has already been completed. Inspectors use plans to evaluate work at the site, comparing what they see on paper with the work itself.
Plans are supposed to be submitted before construction, but Alma Realty inverted that order in some instances, requiring the developer to now bring submitted documents up-to-date with work.
In one instance, the developer began to construct seven apartment units above the total 135 that had been approved by the Planning Board, requiring retroactive site plan approval. Several of those units did not meet fire safety codes relating to exit paths from the building.
It now appears that Alma will have to reconfigure or eliminate the non-compliant apartments.
Certifications ongoing
While city officials wait on Alma, the developer, in turn, is awaiting certifications from a structural steel-testing agency and other third-party agencies it has hired. Most of the recent activity at the site has focused on those efforts. Third-party contractors are also supplying elevators and sprinklers.
While the project stretches on, retail businesses in the Main Street area – long the focus of economic development efforts – are missing out, according to council chair Brian Doyle (D-4th Ward).
“The more time that lapses, the more opportunity is lost,” said Doyle. While noting that the council could only exercise “limited control” over a private project, Doyle and other council members called on city to staff to be vigilant in enforcing the building codes to create a safe building.
“Alma’s got to be losing money on this,” Doyle added.
Despite the delays, city administrator James Marquette urged not rushing the project. The comprehensive review currently undertaken was “the prudent thing to do,” he said.
“I think we’re making progress here with Alma,” Marquette said, adding that the city was “in much better shape than just a few short years ago,” when the aging 19th century structure was threatening to collapse. After spending more than $1.3 million to stabilize it, the city sold it to Alma for $1 in 2004.