Five Units Planned for Historic Hale House Buildings

The Center has purchased a portion of the historic Hale House property in Elizabethtown, NY, to develop middle-income housing that will help meet Elizabethtown’s desperate need for rental housing.

The renovation, which is expected to cost about $3 million, will significantly increase year-round rental properties available in town. Data on local building permits show that Elizabethtown has averaged less than two units of new or restored housing per year over the last five years.

“Here at the Elizabethtown Community Hospital, we’ve seen first-hand how important housing is in our ability to recruit new staff,” said Matt Nolan, vice president and chief operating Officer at the hospital. “We are grateful that the Northern Forest Center is tackling this critical need, which we encounter every time we try to bring in new employees to support our mission of providing quality local healthcare to the Elizabethtown community.”

The Elizabethtown Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals have both approved the project. Detailed planning work will begin immediately; construction should begin early in 2025.

“There will be four apartments in the house, each with two or three bedrooms, and the Law Library will be a single-family, two-bedroom rental,” said Leslie Karasin, Adirondack program director for the Northern Forest Center. Units will average about 1,800 square feet each.

A Dual Win for Community

The Center worked closely with the Elizabethtown Social Center, which previously owned the buildings, to reach an arrangement that will best meet the town’s housing needs and enable the Social Center to focus on its mission.

“We are excited to engage with an organization whose goals for the Hale House so closely mirror our own,” said Arin Burdo, executive director of the Elizabethtown Social Center. “The property’s history will be preserved while adding to housing stock, ensuring continued service to the community, and freeing up resources for ESC to better accomplish its mission work.”

The Hale House and Law Library are both contributing structures in the Hand-Hale Historic District. The Center has applied for historic tax credits and all the renovation work will meet standards for historic preservation.

Northern Forest Fund Invests in Housing

The Center uses a mix of funding sources to achieve its goal of creating high quality apartments that can be rented at middle-market rates. Sources include the Center’s Northern Forest Fund – which integrates private impact investments, philanthropic donations, and grants from public sources – as well as tax credits, grants, and donations for this specific project. Readers can donate to the Fund.

The Hale House redevelopment project complements the Center’s other ongoing work in Elizabethtown and the Adirondacks, including projects that help communities create the conditions to attract new residents and retain young people, improve community-based recreation access and resources, expand broadband service, and build regional capacity on key issues such as middle-market housing and downtown revitalization.

“We’ve been working in communities in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and the Adirondacks to create housing that will be attractive and financially within reach for people and families who want to live in these rural communities,” said Karasin. “Thriving communities need schoolteachers, small business owners, health care staff, and other key workers to make the community hum, and they need places to live,” said Karasin.