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ESD says $16 million available for redevelopment of former Watertown Correctional Facility into housing

Hope Knight is president, CEO, and commissioner of Empire State Development. (Eric Reinhardt / CNYBJ file photo)

WATERTOWN, N.Y. — Empire State Development (ESD) says up to $16 million is available to support redevelopment efforts at the former Watertown Correctional Facility through the competitive request-for-proposals (RFP) process.

The RFP advances recommendations made by the state’s Prison Redevelopment Commission and supports Gov. Kathy Hochul’s ongoing efforts to identify state-owned sites for potential residential uses to address New York’s “housing crisis,” per the ESD announcement.

The $16 million in funding comes from the Redevelopment of Underutilized Sites for Housing (or NY-RUSH) program.

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“The redevelopment of the Watertown Correctional Facility represents a unique opportunity to reimagine and reinvest in the North Country, and providing support from the NY-RUSH program reinforces our commitment making this project a true public-private partnership,” Hope Knight, president, CEO, and commissioner of Empire State Development, said in the announcement. “ESD continues to make meaningful progress on Governor Hochul’s broad vision of transforming underutilized state-owned sites, like this facility in Watertown, into a vibrant, community-enhancing economic and residential hubs.”

The Watertown Correctional Facility RFP is designed to encourage the development of housing in a mix of unit sizes and affordability ranges on the 108-acre site.

“This will not only increase housing options but also grow the community and place a vacant state-owned property back into productive use. The RFP prioritizes proposals that create more affordable housing and financial support may be available to the designated developer for eligible costs,” ESD said.

The NY-RUSH funding complements up to $8 million in Empire State Development grant funds that may be available to the designated developer or developers for eligible capital costs related to site redevelopment.

As part of the 2024 State of the State, Hochul introduced the NY-RUSH program — a multifaceted plan to develop up to 15,000 new homes on state land, ESD said. The current state budget includes a $500 million capital fund to help state agencies in the repurposing of existing state sites and properties for housing.

NY-RUSH funding is available to meaningfully offset the costs incurred by the designated developer in demolishing existing structures on the site. Any proposals that request more than $16 million in RUSH funding may be eliminated from consideration, ESD noted.

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