Auction: Chapman Steamer Firehouse, 179 Dubois Street

179 Dubois St Newburgh Chapman Steamer Firehouse

It’s sad to see it happen, but the Chapman Steamer Firehouse is now up for auction. The original owners had grand plans of creating a community center with artist lofts and even an ice cream parlor, but recently they had sent out a plea for help to avoid foreclosure. It is apparent they were unsuccessful.

This is one of the coolest buildings around in Newburgh. It could be anything from artist space to gorgeous lofts, anything is possible. Just take a look at Hudson Beach Glass across the river in Beacon in an old restored firehouse. The chance is now yours, and we’d love to see something creative come to this building. The former owners did make improvements to the property including: re-pointing the entire brick exterior and interior, restoring the windows with low-e double pane windows, and the iron cornice has been restored. Details are below:

179 Dubois St Newburgh NY Auction Listing

PDF with all the property details

Auction Location:
Orange County Courthouse
285 Main Street, 3rd Floor
Goshen, NY 10924

Auction/Sale Date and Time
8/27/13 @ 10:00 am

Contact
Tranzon Auction Properties
Michael Foster
Tel: 716-507-9009
Email: mfoster@tranzon.com

Assessed Value:$209,200 (2013 Tax Year)
Taxable Value:$188,300
Annual Taxes-
County/City: $5,528.92
School: $5,240.77

15 Comment

  • Will not sell at auction, the price is too high. City of Newburgh property taxes are too high. Until they fix the high tax rates, many wonderful properties will pass into the hands of “non-profits” and will further erode the tax base. Property sellers are slashing offer prices and still have trouble finding buyers partly due to high taxes. Best bet for this property outside of another non tax paying “community property” are high-class living unit/s for some admin. or dr. that works at St. Lukes.

  • Mr. Seedas you make a very good point. Although Newburgh has so many great properties in need of owner occupants also it has the charm no other city close to NYC has. The taxes are way too high, YES many are being set up as multi family and that may reflect on the taxes but I have stated here many times that with these taxes you will not attract hard working familiteslooking for affordable housing. I was looking at a property on Benkard, which is a rough part of town and the taxes were 6,900$ and the asking price was 59K. City officials need to go back to the drawing board or else a lot of families will look at other nearby cities like Middletown, Walden, and Beacon.

  • I agree with both of you and have stated as much on at least one previous occasion. The property taxes are way too high and are not attractive for the average family / homeowners to move from the Boros out to Newburgh City, particularly given the state of the public school system in Newburgh, crime, etc.

    Much is often said about the gentrification / restoration of areas of Brooklyn, Queens, etc with the implication that the same can happen in Newburgh. However, the run down areas of NYC, Brooklyn, Queens etc never had prohibitively high real estate taxes. Greenpoint Brooklyn, for example boasted low property taxes that attracted Polish immigrants to buy it up in the 80’s and 90’s.

    In short, the NYC areas so often mentioned here as examples of what Newburgh can be had big businesses as a tax base and could afford to lower property taxes in rundown areas. Newburgh cannot afford to do that because it doesn’t have enough businesses to fund city expenses via taxes. It’s a catch 22 situation.

    I am pleased at the efforts to attract businesses to Newburgh. I think it’s a vital first step. It appears that the crime situation might be improving as well. It’s going to be a hard road but the attraction of businesses, particularly manufacturing will be key. The USD is under much pressure and pretty soon it may become economical to move US factories back here from China. Newburgh has to be ready for that and become a player in attracting those factories.

    Sorry for the long note. Just my 2 cents.

  • I couldn’t agree with you more Peter. Lets take my old Bronx neighborhood Bainbridge Av and 194th St in the Fordham Rd area. up to like 1995 it was a hell hole, a lot of burnt down houses, etc and the buildings nearby were loaded with crackhouses. Little by little it improved to what it is today. It may not be the best hood but hey the majority of those homes have been restored and new housing has been put in place, more of a middle working class feel now in my opinion.

  • Hello Folks, to my earlier point regarding manufacturing companies as a key to reviving the business climate in Newburgh, please see the below article. The time is now to actively begin soliciting firms looking to bring their factories back from overseas or to relocate from other states.

    Cher, I don’t know if I’m allowed to post links here so apologies in advance if I’m not. Just think this info is worth paying attention to.

    http://www.cnbc.com/id/100993061

    • This has been the case for a few years. Probably why BMWs, VWs, Nissans, etc… are now made in America. However, the costs of doing biz (especially starting one) in New York is among the highest in the nation. Small conglomerates are actively looking back to America for much of the production for a few reasons:

      Labor is not as expensive (especially true in places like Newburgh) as it has been previously
      Logistics costs are very high (hence a lot of durable goods being manufactured here)
      General workforce knowledge remains high, also Americans are among the hardest working people (not nearly the most efficient)

      • Agree with your points Dylan. As a resident of NYC I see first hand what businesses here endure.

        All it would take is for one of those auto plants to open in the city of Newburgh to restore the area. It is my hope that the recently formed unit to attract businesses to the city of Newburgh pays attention to this trend for manufacturing in the US. I do not know what their strategy is for finding and attracting companies to the area but Newburgh’s access to river transportaion, Stewart airport and major highways must be emphasized.

        I would also hope that the land bank can obtain and sell some of the larger buildings to businesses / manufacturers. Lofts are nice, but businesses are more necessary now in my view. The key for the city of Newburgh is businesses and jobs, both of which will generate tax revenue to run the city. The rest will take care of itself.

  • Ive been noticing that many long time Newburgh residents do not welcome some of the changes being proposed. They feel that maybe they will get pushed out or dislocated or priced out of Newburgh. I disagree. What is needed are leaders in Newburgh that will ensure the community that this is not the case. These long term residents are needed in Newburgh in case manufacturing jobs come to the area bringing a sense of pride and self worth to many of these residents that have been out of work and out of luck!

  • Made in America Revival Gathers Pace.

    Hello folks, in keeping with our earlier discussion on this thread, please see below article. It mentions many of the points I raised above and it seems that the pace of manufacturers reshoring is picking up. I hope the Newburgh economic development folks are trying to get out in front of this. They’ve got to be able to pick up one large factory or one large plant at least. I wonder how they’re marketing the city of Newburgh for this.

    http://money.cnn.com/2013/09/24/news/economy/us-manufacturing-revival/index.html

    Regards,
    Peter