Hochul wants to build 15K homes on state land to stem shortage. Which locations targeted?

A former prison in Dutchess County. A psychiatric center in Queens. A pair of SUNY campuses on Long Island.

Thwarted by state lawmakers last year in her quest to speed housing growth with local mandates, Gov. Kathy Hochul has cast about for state-owned properties where homes could be built as a new tactic to boost the supply and combat New York's chief affordability problem.

In speeches this month, Hochul said her administration had identified spots that could yield as many as 15,000 housing units, a small share of what she said the state needs over the next decade to meet demand and tame soaring rents and house prices.

She's backing it with state funds: In her budget last week, she proposed spending up to $250 million each of the next two years for the "redevelopment of underutilized sites." Those funds would be issued as grants and loans to buy the properties and for all aspects of the planning and construction.

But details about where those 15,000 homes would be built are scarce. Hochul mentioned, in general terms, former prisons and "transit adjacent" sites as possibilities in her budget. But when asked by the USA Today Network for a list of targeted properties and its housing goals for each site, her office declined.

Still, a smattering of locations her administration is considering have trickled out in several ways.

Hochul announced two initial target sites for housing last year. She mentioned another in her budget presentation this month. And buried in one of her budget bills were three other spots she wants hawk to developers.

A spokesman for the governor said she'll gradually reveal which properties are being considered for housing as the state solicits bids for them from developers over the coming months.

Here's what we know about locations targeted for new housing in New York.

Fishkill prison: from cellblocks to housing tract?

One of the first housing prospects — announced by Hochul last July — was a triangle of land next to Interstate 84 in the Dutchess County town of Fishkill. Stretched across its 80 acres are 34 empty buildings that used to form a maximum-security prison: Downstate Correctional Facility, closed since March 2022.

The state solicited bids for the shuttered prison from developers and led a delegation of prospective buyers on a site tour two weeks later. Hochul's office told the USA Today Network that it closed the bidding on Sept. 27, but refused to say how many offers were made or how much housing the bidders proposed.

The property is zoned for single-family homes on one-acre lots, limiting development to no more than 80 houses under those zoning rules, Fishkill Supervisor Ozzy Albra said. He said he was told two or three bids had been made but had heard nothing about the proposals.

In theory, a zoning change or variance could enable many more homes to be built there. But Albra ticked off his concerns about allowing a large housing project, including limited water and sewer service and the potential need to build more schools. Plus, there is currently no firefighting service for that area, he noted.

Downstate Correctional Facility was one of a dozen closed prisons across New York that a state commission studied for redevelopment prospects in a 2022 report. They are among 20 the state has closed as the inmate population has plunged in the last two decades.

Three Long Island sites: SUNY campuses, state land

One of Hochul's budget bills revealed three prospective housing sites on Long Island.

Two are at state colleges. Hochul wants to allow SUNY trustees to lease for development 8.7 acres of unused land on the Farmingdale campus and 10 acres at the Stony Brook campus.

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The third Long Island site is state-owned land next to a Long Island Rail Road station in the town of Babylon. The location beside the Pinelawn station is ideal for the sort of commuter enclave Hochul started promoting with her initial housing push last year.

Big plans in New York City

The Hochul administration revealed plans last month to welcome more than 2,800 homes to a 58-acre section of the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center campus in Queens — much to the chagrin of its neighbors, as the The City news site reported.

That project alone makes up nearly one fifth of the 15,000 homes being sought on state properties.

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In addition, the city solicited bids last year from developers for at least three prospective housing sites in Manhattan: a vacant, state-owned parcel next to the Javits Convention Center; and two former prisons, Bayview Correctional Facility and Lincoln Correctional Facility. (Plans for Lincoln are likely on hold because it's currently being used to house asylum seekers.)

How else does Hochul want to expand housing?

Last year, Hochul laid out bold plans to spur construction of 800,000 homes over 10 years, twice the pace of the previous decade. They included mandating housing growth rates for every municipality in New York and requiring zoning for dense housing near commuter train stations outside New York City.

Those plans fizzled after suburbs rebelled against the mandates and state lawmakers tried to replace them with grant incentives for municipalities.

This year, Hochul outlined a revised vision that included the use of state properties and a requirement that municipalities meet growth targets to qualify for certain state grants. She also revived elements of last year's plan pertaining strictly to New York City, such as the replacement of an expired tax program meant to foster new affordable housing.

Chris McKenna covers government and politics for The Journal News and USA Today Network. Reach him at cmckenna@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: NY housing hopes rests on building on state land. Where? What we know