Photos courtesy of Eastdale Village
The 60-plus-acre project is the Hudson Valley’s one-stop shop for apartments, restaurants, a medical building, a park space, and more.
On a rainy morning in August 2018, a crowd congregated on a sprawling stretch of grassland in the middle of Dutchess Turnpike. The occasion? A groundbreaking. It wasn’t just any groundbreaking, however. As shovels ceremoniously plowed into the earth, they marked the start of construction on Eastdale Village, the first pre-planned living community to exist in Dutchess County.
“We’ve been working on this project for over a decade,” reveals Joseph T. Kirchhoff, the founder of Kirchhoff Companies, the firm that’s hard at work to develop the village in partnership with Christopher C. Dyson and David Silver. In fact, Kirchhoff purchased the property back in 2006 in conjunction with the establishment of the Town of Poughkeepsie’s master plan. After persevering for more than a decade, the initiative will become a reality over the span of several phases in six years.
To date, Eastdale has achieved a number of milestones as it works toward its full development in Dutchess County. Beginning with the opening of Premier Medical Group Urology Division, a 27,000-square-foot medical building onsite, in January 2020, the center has added further enticements like Ye Olde Gift Shoppe, Spoons Ice Cream & More, and Amanda’s Macaron Shoppe to the Main Street marketplace. Coming soon, an additional location for Poughkeepsie favorite Rosticceria Rossi & Sons, along with new homes for Sweetbakes Café and the Great Studio hair salon will offer even more onsite attractions.
Yet that’s just the start for the 60-plus-acre live-work-play community, which resides right on U.S. Route 44 between Arlington and Pleasant Valley. During its next phase, the development will introduce Building B and its four new tenants: The Crafted Kup, a Poughkeepsie-based coffeehouse with two other locations; Pizzeria Posto, a Rhinebeck restaurant which will unveil its second location at Eastdale; Bertolozzi Physical Therapy, a Pleasant Valley-based outpatient physical therapy practice; and Freddy B boutique, an extension of Poughkeepsie’s Elizabeth Boutique.
“This milestone in our construction timeline comes as we continue to receive strong interest from future residents and businesses alike,” Kirchhoff notes. “We’re proud that our dynamic vision of an all-in-one, multi-dimensional neighborhood is being so broadly embraced – and enhancing local quality of life.”
If all goes to plan, Building B will be up and running in the Hudson Valley in fall 2021. To further its one-and-done design, Eastdale Village will also develop a headquarters for Kirchhoff Companies, along with its studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments. On the grounds, a community center and village greens will add to the attractions as well. Those amenities partner with the 25 acres of designated open space for parks, recreation, and Wappinger Creek access. Through the course of development, the remaining 35 acres will feature a variety of commercial, retail, service, medical, financial, and office settings.
Once complete, Eastdale Village will provide multiple residential living options, from traditional center-corridor apartments, single level, and two-story townhome spaces to live/work buildings designed with business owners in mind. In total, the community will boast approximately 400 residential units, with studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom options available.
“It’s taken a village to create this village,” notes Christopher Dyson, a partner on the project. Both during and after its development, the space will employ a “village” as well. Development will generate approximately 300 construction jobs, while the dining, retail, and service spaces will produce an estimated 85 to 300 permanent full-time jobs.
More than $90 million will go toward the new center, which is the largest construction project in Poughkeepsie since the Poughkeepsie Galleria in 1986. The investment will be well worth it, since the assessed land value will see an estimated jump from $2.8 to $40.2 million upon completion.
“This is a great example of how the public and private sector can work together to do great things,” declares Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney. New York State Senator Sue Serino echoes that sentiment, stating that the new community will be a “space for all ages.”
“We love Dutchess County,” enthuses Kirchhoff, who, like co-developers Dyson and Silver, calls the region his hometown. “We want to keep it as viable as we possibly can.”
