ALTAMONT — Jeff Thomas is proposing a development at 120 Park Street consisting of a new post office, mixed-use space, and standalone residences. 

The 1.86-acre parcel is bounded by Orsini Park and the Altamont Free Library to the north, Norfolk Southern’s rail line to the west, the Altamont fairgrounds to the south, and Park Street to the east. 

The property currently houses the existing village post office, a commercial building, and a former rail station building. 

The specific proposal to be reviewed by the village zoning board on Nov. 26 contains: 

— A 6,000 square-foot post office building;

— A 4,200 square-foot two-and-a-half-story mixed-use building with commercial space and six residential units;

— A two-story building with six residential units; and

—  A 1,200 square-foot community center.

“All buildings are designed with architectural style to compliment and enhance the Altamont Central Business District and other existing buildings within the Village of Altamont,” according to the narrative filed with the project’s special-use permit application. 

Thomas said he was approached by the post office in the past few years and was told the current building, which he owns, was “space deficient.” So, “we devised a plan where they could keep the post office going while we built a new 6,000 square foot post office, where the fire extinguisher company is now,” he told The Enterprise. 

This is the second time Thomas has proposed a development for the parcel. 

In 2018, he sought permission to build three stand-alone buildings on the land that would contain 26 one- and two-bedroom apartments with one building having 3,600 square feet of commercial space. 

The planning board at the time — the village has since combined its planning and zoning boards — agreed to let the proposal move forward, but raised questions about traffic, water and sewer, and stormwater management among other topics. 

Asked if he thought the current proposal would be better received than the one six years ago, Thomas said he thought it would, highlighting the new post office to make his point. “It’s a beautiful post office. It’s big. It has a facility that’s user-friendly … It’ll be open 24 hours … People will be able to get their mail at [all hours].”

He pointed to the community center as well, which would be open to all village residents, and “what we want to do there is save the train station, the existing train station.”

Altamont’s first train depot, built in 1864, located behind the Victorian train station that now houses the village’s library, is vacant and in disrepair.

The depot’s roof collapsed under heavy snow in December 2022.

Thomas said engineers had assessed the original train depot, and there’s “not really much to save.” The new station wouldn’t exactly be a replica, more a respectful rebuild, he said.