The Lace Mill, our Client of the Month for March

The 55,000 sq. ft. former United States Lace Curtain Mill, built in c.1903, was once part of Kingston’s thriving textile manufacturing industry, which boomed at the turn of the 20^th century.  It employed hundreds of Kingston residents over several generations.  The factory, which sat unused for nearly 30 years, was once an eyesore for midtown Kingston.

Today, it has become a symbol of community rejuvenation, having an impact far beyond the 55 units that were created. This historic structure which had been left vacant  for years now offers a beautiful place for artists to live. Kevin O’Connor, RUPCO’s Chief Executive Officer, stated in Affordable Housing Finance,  “It was about lifting a community and creating a much more interesting place where people can live and work.”  The development also has 8,000 sq. ft. of public gallery, studio, and meeting space.

The project was lead by RUPCO’s CEO, Kevin O’Connor, who envisioned a project such as this would significantly impact the community.  With help from RUPCO colleagues Chuck Snyder and Guy Kempe, architect Scott Dutton, community involvement from City of  Kingston Mayor Shayne Gallo and others, the vision started to become a reality. On April 1, 2014  a celebratory kick-off ‘Paint Can Opening’ took place.  Restoration had already begun when more than 200 attendees toured and viewed architectural renderings of the completed project.

Fifteen months later, occupancy of some of the units began, and by the fall of 2015, the labor-intensive historical restoration was complete.  

As of October 2015, The Lace Mill was home to the ‘Urban Pioneers’ and the first residents with units leased to 34 households, 56 individuals whose ethnic/cultural identity includes, Hispanic, Non-Hispanic, Multi-Race, African American, Asian and Caucasian, including 9 children and 5 seniors.  These residents are dancers, graphic designers, film & media, jewelry makers, painters, photographers, crocheters, puppeteers, therapist in healing arts, sculptors, drawers, singers, musicians, writers, printmakers and actors.

Most recently, New York Regional Home Performance Conference in Saratoga Springs,  NYSERDA honored the Lace Mill with its Low-rise Residential New Construction Program Trailblazing Project Award. Each year NYSERDA recognizes projects of merit innovative approaches to energy efficiency, usage, and application.  The Lace Mill hosts Kingston’s largest solar array (160kW) which net-meters rooftop solar-electricity production against the building’s common area energy usage.

Several  RUPCO employees asked about the business relationship and communication with Ryan & Ryan Insurance offered many positive thoughts.  Chuck Snyder, Director of Real Estate and Construction, commented that “RUPCO has been using Ryan & Ryan as our primary development insurer for at least 5 years.  Although we often have issues, Bob and Kim Whalen always advocate for us and as a client treat us as their first priority.”

Sheila Kilpatrick, Vice President of Operations stated “Recently, we were faced with our workers compensation carrier dropping us with little notice.  Bob Ryan put in a significant amount of effort to make sure we had coverage by the first of the year.  He sent out several bids on our behalf.  Ultimately, we did not end up going with the insurance that Bob was able to find us, but even after all of his effort he was very gracious and understood our financial decision to go down another path.  He is a class act!”

Regarding Ryan & Ryan Insurances Community Involvement,  Tara Collins, Director of Communications and Resource Development at RUPCO says ‘R&R has been a consistent supporter of our events throughout the years and for that we’re grateful!’