Newburgh Developers Propose Mixed-Use Housing Project on Former Ferry Parking Lot

The Kaplan family and the Bonura Group have formalized plans to redevelop the vacant parking lot that once served the Newburgh-Beacon Ferry into a mixed-use complex with residential units and commercial space, advancing what would be one of the more consequential projects on Newburgh's riverfront in recent memory.

The site has sat idle since ferry service ceased operations, leaving a conspicuous gap along the waterfront that city officials and residents have debated for years. The two development teams briefed municipal leaders on the proposal, which envisions a hub linking housing with riverfront amenities and commercial or office space intended to generate foot traffic and expand the city's tax base.

Unit counts, parking allocations, and project phasing have not been disclosed; those figures are expected at future planning-board sessions. Before any of that, the project must clear the City of Newburgh's full permitting pathway, including public hearings, planning-board reviews, and environmental and traffic analyses.

Community pushback is anticipated on several fronts: building height, parking capacity, and how much public access to the river the finished development preserves. That tension between adding housing density and keeping the waterfront open has been a recurring fault line in Newburgh's planning debates, and this particular site carries extra weight given its historic connection to the ferry that once tied the city into broader Hudson Valley transit patterns.

How the planning board weighs those tradeoffs will set a precedent for how smaller Hudson Valley cities handle waterfront redevelopment in an era of rising housing demand.