CITY OF NEWBURGH – Regal Bag building owner Bill Kaplan is seeking to buy a piece of city-owned land for a parking lot as part of wide-ranging redevelopment plan in which the iconic City of Newburgh waterfront property would undergo renovations and eventually house dozens of new residences.

Newburgh Planning and Development Director Deirdre Glenn briefed the City Council on Kaplan’s request for a purchase option on a 2.7-acre parcel across Water Street from Regal Bag.

Kaplan would get four years to complete the purchase at an appraiser’s price of $245,000, Glenn told the Council.

The parking lot would service a long-term $40 million plan that calls for dozens of market-rate apartments on the top two floors of the massive six-story building, whose spaces have drawn artists and art galleries.

In the short term, Kaplan is planning to renovate Regal Bag’s bell tower and gatehouse; restore the walkway on the Water Street side; light the building at night; and extend the public waterfront trail through the property.

Plans also include opening a retail business, such as a restaurant or café.

“We really think this is for the better good of the city,” Glenn said. “Regal Bag has tremendous potential, and the plans for rejuvenating it and making it a public space are phenomenal.”

Built in 1845, Regal Bag has been own by Kaplan and his family for 70 years.

Kaplan once announced a $60 million to $80 million plan to erect a mix of condominiums and townhouses at Regal Bag and along Water Street, but the idea fell victim to the recession that began in 2008.

In 2015 a development group managed by Joan Kaplan, Bill Kaplan’s daughter, sought an option-to-buy agreement for seven vacant city-owned parcels – including six on Water Street – for a condominium project at Regal Bag.

That plan called for 108 units on a stretch of vacant property along the western side of Water Street and another 59 units inside Regal Bag.

But the plan was withdrawn amid concerns by the City Council, which had a different membership at the time.

Support among the current Council members appeared strong as Glenn discussed Kaplan’s plans during a work session on Thursday.

“What I expect this project to do is stimulate other development, and more interest in other properties in our city,” Mayor Judy Kennedy said.

lsparks@th-record.com