Business View Civil and Municipal | Volume 2, Issue 7

28 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 2, ISSUE 7 find new uses for old sites. According to Welti, “We are looking at trying to repurpose some sites – especially the older commercial ones – that aren’t in use. We have some retail that’s gotten a bit stale and we recognize that the retail economy is changing. We want to provide for some more flexibility and a little more opportunity in terms of how those areas are being developed. That’s one of those things we are actually focusing on in our Comprehensive Plan update. The idea is, if we can be a little bit more flexible in terms of what kind of development happens there, there will be a good incentive for businesses to come to those places.” Development aside, the Town of Poughkeepsie already has a lot to offer. “There’s a lot of different features,” Baisley says. “The town has 100 percent access to municipal water and about 60 percent of the town is on municipal sewer, making it easier for businesses to locate in the town. Our business corridor has municipal water and sewer, this makes it feasible for larger-scale The redevelopment continues at the Poughkeepsie Business Park, which will soon be home to AP Packaging. “They will be relocating from New Jersey,” says Baisley. “This is the first location they purchased and stated a strong commitment to the area. They have purchased the Laval site and will be relocating here in the near future, employing close to 100 people – a mix of new employees and ones that will be relocating . This is the first manufacturer of this size that has relocated to the town.” Repurposing former buildings is a priority for the Town of Poughkeepsie. They are currently in the process of finding a new use for a former K-Mart site and other vacant retail locations. They recently took down an old hotel on Route 9 and replaced it with a new one. The restaurant next to it was taken down and is becoming a car wash. “Our goal is to repurpose vacant properties, when possible” Baisley notes. The plan moving forward is to continue to