The Poughkeepsie Underwear Factory
Hudson River Housing has been a cornerstone of community building since 2008. Starting with the Middle Main Initiative, this nonprofit sought to improve the lives of City of Poughkeepsie residents and the community as a whole. In providing economical housing, arts, education and training programs, Hudson River Housing increasing economic impact to revive and celebrate the city of Poughkeepsie.
In 2012, the opportunity to create a tangible expression of hope came in the form of the National Historic Site, The Poughkeepsie Underwear Factory. Leveraging existing community relationships and resources, Hudson River Housing redeveloped The Underwear Factory into a mixed-use facility for housing, retail and community programs. Today the building is quickly becoming a community hub which provides education, entertainment, jobs and training programs that are enriching the neighborhood while strengthening the local economy.
Currently home to 15 low-cost housing units and 3 floors of community space occupied by Mid-Hudson Heritage, Mill Street Loft, Spark Media Project and the Poughkeepsie Open Kitchen. The city’s first community commercial kitchen stewards two local start-ups- North River Roasters and Earth, Wind and Fuego. Additionally, more than a dozen food entrepreneurs are now closer to launching start-ups of their own thanks to the ability of the organization to connect all of its arms to create opportunity at the local level.
Our Non-Profit of the Year award winner at the 2017 Business Excellence Awards has helped spark the energy bubbling over in this city on the go. Attracting business, talent, entrepreneurs and building community spirit, Hudson River Housing and The Underwear Factory continues to propel the development in our region.
