A former boarding house in Uptown Kingston that once housed some of the city’s most vulnerable residents will be transformed into supportive housing featuring individual living spaces and on-site services provided by social service nonprofit Family of Woodstock. Officials at Home Property Group said that they hope to have the residence fully operational by this time next year.

“It’s going to be beautiful when we’re done,” said developer Scott Rosen. “It will be a true transformation.”

The site at 256 Washington Ave., three large houses connected by a long hallway and a carriage house, was once home to the Chiz’s Heart Street boarding house. Inside, as many as 60 people, many with schizophrenia or other mental health challenges, were lodged two or three to a room with shared bathrooms and a communal kitchen. The boarding house served as refuge of last resort for many residents who would otherwise be homeless.

In 2021, Heart Street shut down after the facility was sold. Some residents with no place else to go remained at the site even after the shutdown, while a team from the Ulster County Department of Social Services struggled to find new homes for others. The building was finally emptied in November 2021 when a still-unsolved arson fire left the residence with severe water damaged and without electricity.

The loss of Heart Street and the nearby Elizabeth Manor boarding house around the same time sparked concern among housing advocates that the forces of gentrification would force former boarding house residents out of the city or onto the streets. But the proposal by Home Property Group would serve substantially the same population that once occupied Heart Street. Plans call for a gut renovation of all three linked homes to be conducted in stages to allow sections to be occupied while work is underway in other parts of the building. Plans call for the construction of 47 efficiency apartments with their own kitchen and bathroom facilities, while another 13 units would be boarding house-style rooms with shared facilities.

Home Property Group has a contract with Family of Woodstock to handle leasing and day-to-day management of the building. The agency would also be in charge of providing on-site support services to residents who might otherwise be unable to live independently.

Mayor Steve Noble said the city had been working to find a way to replace the beds lost by the closure of Heart Street since the facility shut down. One of the largest obstacles to providing supportive housing locally, he said, has been finding agencies willing and able to provide high quality on-site services to residents.

“We’ve struggled to find really good providers of that service,” said Noble. “That’s why we’re excited that Family is willing to do some of that because we can trust that people are going to be taken care of.”

Noble said the project also reflects the opportunities unlocked by the city’s recently adopted form-based “Kingston Forward” zoning code. Among other changes, the new code dropped off-street parking requirements for multi-family housing. And, while there will be some parking included at the Heart Street site, it will not be nearly as much as the previous code mandated. (Developers say they anticipate most residents of the complex will not own vehicles and will rely on public transportation.)

“This project would obviously not be possible under the old zoning code,” said Noble.