Nearly two years after a group of senior Peekskill Plaza apartments residents voiced frustrations and distress over their living conditions, many of those residents are now voicing optimism and hope about the future of their home.

That is because on April 8, Tredway, a real estate developer based in New York City, announced it closed on acquisition of the senior affordable housing community located at 901-907 Main Street in downtown Peekskill. The developer purchased the building for $22.7 million.

With the sale comes a promise of preserving long-term affordability for households earning at or below 60 percent of area median income (AMI) and over $4.5 million from Tredway in capital improvements at the property.

One tenant, Elizabeth Jones, who is scheduled to have a one-on-one meeting with the new management company, said she is feeling very positive. She was among several 901 Main Street tenants at a city council meeting on May 13, 2024, who voiced safety and quality of life concerns at the building, which included drug dealers, prostitution, packages being stolen, and vermin. 

“I feel that Tredway is our solution to the problems we’ve been living with, and I am very excited about working with them and helping them make our area beautiful,” Jones told the Peekskill Herald.

Tredway is committing over $4.5 million in capital improvements, the implementation of a social services program to support residents’ health and well-being, a partnership with the City of Peekskill on workforce development initiatives, and the placement of a full-time on-site property manager to ensure responsiveness to residents’ needs.

The 168-apartment complex consists of a seven-story high-rise brick building and three two-story garden apartment style buildings, with a courtyard in the center. It sits downtown near city hall and the police department.

Will Blodgett, CEO of Tredway, told the Herald in a phone call that Tredway learned the owner of the building was potentially selling the building about a year ago, leading Tredway to tour and meet with city officials and tenants.

“We heard about what the building used to be like and we saw the potential for what the future could really hold here,” Blodgett said. “It’s obviously going to need a tremendous amount of money and resources to get it back to what it used to be, but we’re very excited to rehabilitate, reenergize this building.”

A press release from Tredway stated that the transaction is being financed through private debt provided by Merchants Capital and sponsor equity. The project will receive a newly extended 40 year payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) through the Peekskill Industrial Development Agency. The property will also benefit from expanded rental assistance through the City’s Section 8 program.

In addition, as part of the PILOT agreement, Tredway will make a one-time $3.8 million contribution to the city to support the city’s infrastructure repairs. The transaction was brokered by the commercial real estate firm SVN.

City Manager Matthew Alexander told the Herald that the city had a meeting with Tredway in 2025 and got to know about Tredway’s mission to improve distinct buildings for affordable projects and their desire to use their own funding rather than seeking outside funding.

“We liked their philosophy,” Alexander said. “We had a good discussion about what they wanted to do and how they wanted to go about it. And we also talked about our needs with this building [and] the hardship that this very old PILOT negotiation had put on the city, not really in terms of just this one project but in terms of all of them together.”

Alexander said the city initially offered a similar kind of partnership to help at the building as they offered to Marathon Development Group, the building’s now former management company, but that Marathon ultimately wanted to leave.

Prior to Tredway’s acquisition, Marathon Development Group installed several cameras in the courtyard, mailroom, and entrances and hallways of apartment complexes around January 2025. Later tenants would report an improvement in quality of life.

Jones recalled coming across members of Tredway at the building about a year ago, then only prospective buyers, who recognized Jones from the recording of the council meeting.

“They told me we’re interested in buying the building,” Jones said. “I said, ‘We have bulls**t security cameras. Outside there’s none in the hallways, there’s none of the stairwells. It’s absurd.’ The next day when I woke up, the security people were back, and they put two cameras on every floor and three on my floor.”

Asked if Tredway did any work to improve the building before its acquisition, including a new buzzer machine installed at the gates, Blodgett said, “We inspired it.”

What Tredway Is Planning on Delivering

Removing a longtime eyesore — scaffolding present at the building for years — is among one of the capital improvements Tredway intends to bring via its $4.5 million investment.

“I’m the kind of guy that likes to underpromise, overachieve,” said Tredway CEO Blodgett. “I believe that scaffolding will be down in a year. But it’s a significant amount of work that needs to happen.”

Other investments, in addition to facade repairs, include comprehensive upgrades to building systems and the installation of new in-unit appliances. Tredway also aims to take meaningful steps to strengthen building security through property-wide maintenance improvements, upgraded access controls, expanded security coverage, and increased on-site security staffing  — “direct responses to concerns raised by both residents and the City of Peekskill,” according to the Tredway press release.

On the operation side, Tredway says it will enhance the day-to-day experience of residents through the addition of an on-site resident service coordinator, a dedicated full-time property manager, and a leasing compliance specialist. Tredway said the resident service coordinator, who will be there two days a week,  will play a vital role in connecting residents with essential services, including food assistance, transportation, healthcare, and public benefits.

Blodgett said Tredway is looking to hold events and engage in different types of food services for the community at the building.

“There is an epidemic, if you will, right now of loneliness, and I want to do my part to solve that problem,” Blodgett said. “And I think a great way to get folks to convene is over food, bring folks down to break bread together.”

Blodgett said that Tredway buys, builds, and preserves affordable housing all over the country. He said the company has been successful in integrating themselves into the fabric of communities in a way that is culturally and geographically sensitive to their unique needs and wants. That work involves talking to residents, who have more institutional knowledge of the property.

“We ask what we can do to help improve your quality of life,” Blodgett said.

He cited an example at a Brooklyn apartment building, where three elderly residents in the past 18 months had fallen and broken their hips while attempting to enter the bathtub. Tredway changed those bathrooms to be walking showers and wheelchair accessible.

“Another building that we bought had elderly residents that said, ‘The lights in our unit are so bright, and they hurt my eyes.’ So we installed dimmers on the lighter fixtures,” said Blodgett. “It didn’t cost a lot of money, but it was a lot more thoughtful and was a result of direct input and feedback from the community itself. And who knows better than the people who call the building home.”

Asked what workforce development initiatives are planned in conjunction with the city, Blodgett said they have not been determined yet. He said Tredway will be giving the city an undisclosed amount of money every year for things like job training, internship opportunities, and interviews.

Matthew Rudikoff, executive director of the Peekskill Facilities Development Corporation, told the Herald that the PILOT with the IDA is to make a $10,000 per year investment. He said workforce development initiatives are not yet defined but would be targeted at youth and relate to the building’s operations.

“It could be security, it could be food, it could be tenant relations, having young people learn some of the skills associated with operating an affordable housing project,” he said. “It could also be an investment to some of the city’s ongoing youth hub and workforce development activities [such as] culinary [and] training programs that are ongoing regarding computer skills.”

Tenants Share Excitement, Hopes, Anxieties 

The Peekskill Herald met with 10 tenants, along with three visiting family members, to learn their thoughts on the acquisition and their experiences living in the building.

The majority of tenants interviewed voiced support for Tredway, while some said it was too early to see if the new ownership would bring improvements since the company only just recently bought the property.

Tenants in support said Tredway helped lower people’s rents, have more communication than the prior management company, and have a property manager there seven days a week as opposed to the prior three a week.

David Shane, a tenant at the building for over a year, shared his support, noting Tredway management helped to fill out paperwork for his wife.

“The new people are fabulous and very sweet, very kind,” Shane said. “I said, ‘My wife can’t walk.’ She said, ‘I’m gonna come upstairs to her.’ She brought the paperwork upstairs. Now who does that? She left her desk to come upstairs. Even the bad people in here said, ‘Man, it’s so nice in here.’ It’s a big difference now.” When he refers to “bad people,” he likely refers to drug dealers and other individuals that tenants say have impacted their quality of life.

Elmer Washington, another tenant in the building, echoed Shane’s sentiment.

“We’re in another branch under the new ownership,” Washington said. “We try to go to every meeting that they have to [let them] know what’s good for them to know about how to succeed in their situations. We got security and everything is a little better than it was before.”

Gerena Macho Grano, a mechanical engineer visiting his brother, said it was too early to tell if new ownership would bring improvements since the company only recently bought the building. He estimated it would take a couple months before such improvements, noting they have to do contracts and have technicians come for measurements and plumbing.

“This place could be gorgeous,” he said of the plaza space in the middle of the building. “You can plant some beautiful flowers, annuals or perennials. If it was me, I make this place look like a palace.”

Blodgett told the Herald he believed that space could be a great amenity for the building, including benches, trees, and different types of outdoor features not currently being utilized.

Josephine Hamilton, a tenant in the building for eight years, told the Herald the new management has been helpful in answering any questions and assisting with filling out forms, something she emphasized was important for senior tenants who may be losing memory.

“Sometimes truth has to come out,” Hamilton said. “If you close your mouth, no one will know what you’re feeling or what you’re experiencing. So it’s good we can really get somebody to talk to and let them know what is going on. Because we are human beings. We need to express ourselves to the right place and to the right persons. I appreciate what I see coming on stream right now.”

Lingering Issues to Be Addressed 

Tenants reported lingering issues at the building that they hope Tredway can help mitigate, including drug dealing and use in the building, cockroaches and mice in certain units, and scaffolding present on the property for years.

Chief of Police Adam Renwick shared that the total call statistics for the past two years at the location were 801 calls in 2023 and 784 calls in 2024.

Quessie Carr, a pastor at the Christ Prayer Warriors church and tenant at the building for about 20 years, said when she moved into the building it was one of the safest buildings in Peekskill. However, later she grew nervous to come home from Bible study, requesting someone from the church walk up with her due to fears over who she might run into in the building.

“So far I think it’s nice,” Carl said of the new ownership. “I’m praying that they do what they’re saying, that things will be better because we need help.”

A family member who takes care of a resident in the building and asked to remain anonymous to protect their sister’s identity said they have observed traffic coming in and out at night from those looking to find or sell drugs.

“I want my sister to feel safe. I want to make sure that if we step outside the apartment, that nothing’s going to happen when we go into the hallway,” the family member said. “Because there’s been times before where we found people sleeping outside the door. That’s not a good feeling.”

Jones told the Herald that when she met a manager with Tredway in April, she was informed that management was instructed to watch the city council meeting to get an understanding of the quality of life issues at the building.

“I know this is our solution,” Jones said. “Tredway is the solution to our problems. It’s never going to be perfect because we live in [a] city, there’s drugs. I’m not looking for perfect. I’m looking for where we’re getting to.”

City Manager Alexander told the Herald that several department heads across the the Peekskill Fire Department, Police Department, Department of Public Works, Section 8, and the Nutrition Department introduced themselves to new ownership, gave history on the building, and offered a helping hand.

Since founding Tredway in 2021, Blodgett has overseen growth into 11 states, with more than 8,800 units built, bought, or preserved across the country and 1,500 units in various stages of active development in New York City. 

City Manager Matt Alexander told the Herald that several department heads across the Peekskill Fire Department, Police Department, Department of Public Works, Section 8, and the Nutrition Department introduced themselves to new ownership, gave history on the building, and offer a helping hand.

Tredway’s acquisitions include 816 units of Section 8 housing at Sea Park Apartments in Brooklyn; Midtown Towers, a 95-unit historic, high-rise apartment building in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; an affordable housing portfolio comprised of 14 properties and 715 units spanning The Research Triangle in North Carolina; and two affordable senior housing properties, Riverview Towers in Camden, New Jersey, and Forest Hill House in Newark, New Jersey.

Blodgett said their goal at Peekskill Plaza Apartments is both to ensure the building remains affordable and to improve quality of life.

“We’re really excited about it,” Blodgett said. “And the feedback so far that we’ve gotten from residents and the various stakeholders in the community is that things are going well, which I’m very happy to hear. It’s just really to improve the quality of life of the residents in the building and let them age in place with the dignity and respect that they deserve.”