Construction Launches at $147M Adaptive Reuse Project in Poughkeepsie

Construction has started on Wallace Campus, a $147 million mixed-use affordable housing development in downtown Poughkeepsie.

• The project will deliver 187 affordable apartments, including 69 created through the adaptive reuse of the former Wallace Department Store, at roughly $786,000 per unit.
• Mega Development Group and Ametrine Group are developing, with Wells Fargo financing and a stack of state and federal subsidies, including $46 million in federal tax-credit equity.

What the Wallace Campus Project Includes

Construction is underway on Wallace Campus, a $147 million mixed-use development at Main and Catharine Streets in Poughkeepsie that will bring 187 affordable apartments to the city through a mix of adaptive reuse and new construction. Mega Development Group and Ametrine Group are leading the project alongside Mental Health America of Dutchess County, which will run on-site social services. Every unit is reserved for households earning up to 80 percent of the area median income, with 30 set aside as supportive housing for tenants eligible for services like home health care management and family advocacy. At $147 million across 187 units, the project pencils to about $786,000 a door.

What the Adaptive Reuse Component Involves

The centerpiece is the former Wallace Department Store, which anchored Main Street from the 1870s until it closed roughly a century later, sat underused for decades, and went fully vacant in 2022. The historic building will be converted into 69 apartments, with the developers preserving its limestone façade, existing stairways, and the ornate dome ceiling on the fourth floor. More than 22,000 square feet of ground-floor retail across the development is meant to keep commercial life on the block, an echo of what Wallace was for a century. "This transformative development is a model for how the public and private sectors can work together to address New York's urgent need for housing," said Mega Group Development principal Emanuel Kokinakis.

What New Construction Is Planned

Beyond the department store conversion, the development adds 118 apartments across two newly constructed buildings on the site. The unit mix runs studios through three bedrooms. Each building carries its own amenities, including a game room, fitness space, screening room, and co-working space, and the project will add public green space and a children's play area called Wallace Green. The buildings are designed to be fully electric with ENERGY STAR appliances.

How the Project Got Financed

The capital stack is almost entirely public, layered subsidy by subsidy. The federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program is expected to generate $46 million in equity, with another $12.9 million from the state credit. On top of that: $38 million from the state's Supportive Housing Opportunity Program, $14.6 million in anticipated Brownfield tax credits, roughly $13 million in combined federal and state historic tax credits, $5 million from the Middle-Income Housing Program, and $2.2 million from the Dutchess County Housing Trust Fund, with Wells Fargo providing the private financing. The project was first proposed when current State Senator Rob Rolison was Poughkeepsie's mayor, and the Leviticus Fund made an acquisition loan five years ago to lock down the site.

What the Project Means for Downtown Poughkeepsie

Wallace Campus sits a short walk from the Poughkeepsie Metro-North station, inside a city the state has certified as Pro-Housing and an area it's branding the Poughkeepsie Innovation District. New York Homes and Community Renewal says it has created or preserved more than 9,000 affordable homes in the Hudson Valley under Governor Hochul, including over 1,000 in Dutchess County, and it is leaning on adaptive reuse of historic downtown buildings as a repeatable play. "The reactivation of the Wallace Campus marks a pivotal moment for Poughkeepsie," said Ametrine Group president Amy Larovere. As construction progresses, the milestone to watch is how fast the restored retail finds tenants, and whether a revived Wallace pulls the rest of the Main Street corridor with it.