Kiryas Joel, Monroe, NY – Five New Sites Under Construction, Will Add More Than 450 Housing Units

Kiryas Joel, Monroe, NY – Workers continue with a flurry of construction to meet the growing demand for housing, social services and jobs in this burgeoning village of about 18,000 Hasidim.

Village Administrator Gedalye Szegedin said the primary goals of his municipality are to address the need for more affordable housing, health services for women and jobs in a community with a median household income of $18,300, according to the Census Bureau's 2005 figures.

There are more than five new condominium sites under construction, which will add more than 450 units to the supply of housing.

Szegedin also said the village is on schedule to complete the five-story, 80,000-square-foot business center by the end of the year. Plans for the construction of the multipurpose business facility initially stalled around 2003, when the village failed to lure larger corporate investors to the site, prompting banks to withdraw financing.

However, construction on the $8- to $10-million project moved forward, and small Hasidic businesses in and around the village should move in upon completion, Szegedin said.

Another project recently completed is the 40,000- square-foot Keren Plaza Banquet Hall on Forest Road, next to the shopping strip, to provide space for the numerous religious-based ceremonies and celebrations of Kiryas Joel families, Szegedin said.

"People have large families, and they have small apartments, and they don't have a place for all these functions," Szegedin said. [Record]