In 2016, RUPCO celebrated its 35th anniversary as a not-for-profit, community development

corporation. Led by a volunteer board of directors, our mission is to create homes, support people
and improve communities. Our vision is for strong, vibrant and diverse communities with
opportunity and a home for everyone.

RUPCO works broadly in the area of housing and community development. Last year, we helped 81
families purchase their first homes in Ulster County. We proudly administer the Housing Choice
Voucher Program (Section 8) in Ulster and Greene Counties, serving nearly 2,000 families. We
market NYSERDA's Green Jobs | Green New York program in 10 counties including Westchester. This
program encourages homeowners to have energy audits performed and then to make energy
retrofits that save energy and money while creating jobs for local contractors.

RUPCO has long served as the administrative consultant for Ulster County's Continuum of Care
approach to homelessness. Over the past decade, our role has guided the Continuum's receipt of
over $11 Million to support an array of nonprofits serving the County's homeless; in turn, these
partners provide homes and support services while saving local taxpayers significant dollars.
Our real estate development work has included Buttermilk Falls in the Village of Ellenville where we
built and sold 15 townhomes to first-time homebuyers. We also constructed the innovative
Woodstock Commons, an intergenerational campus of 53 homes for seniors, working families and
artists. In developing Woodstock Commons, RUPCO overcame significant NIMBY opposition. Now
that the campus is built and a demonstrated viable part of community, its acceptance is universal.
We are very proud of our award-winning work at The Lace Mill that transformed an old boarded-up
factory building and created 55 spectacular rental homes with preference for artists.

RUPCO has proposed Landmark Place to return

the Alms House to its original purpose of
providing affordable and stable housing to
Kingston's most vulnerable people. The
concept, which involves the historic restoration
of the existing building and construction of a
new building, came about as a direct response
to the need we see every day at RUPCO.
Indeed, when the phone rings today, as it does
every day, from people in need of an
affordable housing solution, we have no
resources. None! There are rarely vacancies at the affordable housing complexes. The Section 8 wait
list is closed for the foreseeable future, and more than a thousand people are stalled on our wait-list
for rental assistance or an affordable home. In our wok with the County's Continuum of Care, we
count a daily average of 160 single homeless people - many of them seniors - being ill-housed in
costly motel rooms. The idea for Landmark Place is a response to our observation of the area's
boarding homes that have little choice but to inadequately crowd four people to a room. This type
of treatment has consequences and costs as Health Alliance CEO David Scarpino recently reported:

"When we look at people who have had four or more hospitalizations in the last 12 months, it
comes down to two populations, people with respiratory problems and people with behavioral
health problems - mostly the elderly - and we've chosen to focus on the issue of behavioral
health because it is so profound in our community. Last year we had one person come to the
 hospital 64 times. When you have people living in shelters, single rooms, flop houses and hotels,
they feel insecure, they have no social contact and they are lonely."

He's right. Surely, we can do better.

Last summer, we responded to Governor Cuomo's call to create 6,000 units of supportive housing
across New York State and applied to the Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative (ESSHI). This
program saves local taxpayer dollars in several ways. First, by providing stable and supportive
housing, vulnerable seniors stay out of the emergency rooms, and have less interface with our local
law enforcement and court systems. Secondly, this state funding provided by ESSHI, will pay for rent
and support services at Landmark Place and will replace local dollars that are now contributing
towards the daily costs of shelters and motel rooms of nearly $100 per day.

We are putting the Alms House

property onto the tax roll for the first
time in its history and we expect to pay
property taxes of nearly $70,000 per
year. Although a non-profit, RUPCO
believes strongly in contributing to the
tax base and is proud of its record as a
taxpayer. In 2016, RUPCO and its
affiliates paid over $215,000 in property
taxes in the City of Kingston. Current
New York State law requires local
assessors to strictly value affordable
housing by the income approach,
recognizing that lower rents produce far less income than market units to pay for operating
expenses including taxes. New York State also authorizes local taxing jurisdictions to enter into
Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOTS) to both for-profits and non-profits for economic and community
benefits including job creation and affordable housing. Landmark Place - with its proposed property
tax contribution coupled with the aforementioned savings to local taxpayers - makes for a truly wise
economic investment.

Landmark Place will offer the first new, affordable senior housing in the City of Kingston

since 2001 when Brigham Senior Housing was created on O'Neill Street. In sum, Landmark Place will
offer 66 rental homes for seniors, including 35 supportive homes for seniors who are experiencing,
or are threatened by, homelessness. The campus is designed with health and safety in mind, so that
our seniors can thrive. Health and safety measures include a 24-hour-7-day-a-week security detail
plus on-site staff including a full-time LPN, a Supportive Care Manager, and a live-in maintenance
supervisor. Landmark Place will also offer van transportation to its seniors without cars.

Landmark Place offers a unique opportunity for our community to come together and provide an
oasis for our seniors for the next century. To provide a home for vulnerable elders who are frail or
have a disabling condition. To hand a set of apartment keys back to a veteran who served our
country during the Vietnam War. Or to help a loved one that is in need of a safe, accessible and
affordable apartment - one that is nearby to you and your family - to grow old. This type of
opportunity comes along once in a generation - to lock in place a community asset akin to that
which our forefathers did over 140 years ago - a home for our elders.

To those who live nearby and have expressed concern - we hope that you recognize the recent shift
that we have made in our proposal for Landmark Place to make it an age-restricted senior campus
where everyone must be age 55 or over. We believe this should lessen any fears or concerns
regarding safety for your neighborhood. We also intend to invite a few neighbors, if interested, to
join a neighborhood committee for Landmark Place to monitor the process during construction,
lease-up, and operation and offer a forum to discuss issues and concerns. We hope a few will take
us up on this offer.

We hope that the entire community will voice their support for this opportunity to return a vacant
property to historic and productive use that will provide our seniors with a remarkable living campus
for the next century. Landmark Place, a place to call home.

Sincerely,
Kevin O'Connor, CEO

Rural Ulster Preservation Company HomeOwnership

Center, 289 Fair Street, Kingston, NY 12401

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