FALLSBURG — The Fallsburg Town Board is weighing a proposal to develop up to 60 workforce housing units on a five-acre portion of the former Woodbourne Correctional Annex, a project that developers say could help meet growing demand for affordable housing in Sullivan County.

At the April 1 board meeting, Sheldon Roberts, a local realtor and developers and William D’Avella of Pennrose, a Brooklyn-based housing developer, presented preliminary plans for a townhouse-style rental complex aimed at moderate-income working families. The project would require a long-term ground lease from the town, which owns the property.

“This won’t happen without your blessing,” Roberts told board members. “We’re not trying to come in as outsiders and make a mess. We want to build something that works for Fallsburg.”

Roberts, a real estate broker with offices in Monticello, said in a follow-up interview that his interest in the area began with a manufacturing venture in Bloomingburg. Now based in Rockland County, he said he is looking to relocate and sees workforce housing as a critical need in Sullivan.

“I was just talking to people and realized how little housing stock there is — especially for people who live and work here,” he said. “It’s tough to attract developers to this area, but Pennrose was willing to come up and take a real look.”

Pennrose has developed over 27,000 housing units nationally, including recent projects in Kingston and Haverstraw. D’Avella cited Golden Hill in Kingston — another redevelopment of a former jail — as a model, where a mix of workforce and senior housing was combined with a daycare facility. That project leveraged more than $25 million in state and federal funding, including grants from Homes and Community Renewal and the federal Home Loan Bank.

In Fallsburg, the proposal envisions 60 units of 100 percent workforce housing — targeting families earning 60 percent to 120 percent of the area median income, or roughly $50,000 to $100,000 annually. All units would be rentals, with two- and three-bedroom layouts, and each would include a private entrance and yard.

“We think this site lends itself well to townhouses, not dense apartment buildings,” D’Avella said. “It could be a real community.”

Fallsburg Supervisor Michael Bensimon asked whether the units would be reserved for local residents. D’Avella said federal fair housing laws prohibit geographic restrictions, but added that “in every project we’ve done, the majority of tenants have come from the local county.”

Questions about control over rent-setting and eviction protections were also raised. D’Avella responded that rent ranges could be negotiated in the development agreement, but eviction policies would be governed by state law.

Fallsburg Councilmember Nathan Steingart raised concerns about whether housing would be allowed on the annex site, given its proximity to the still-operating Woodbourne Correctional Facility.

“When we took over that site from the state, there were significant restrictions,” Steingart said. “I’m not even sure this would be an allowed use.”

Fallsburg Councilman Sean Wall-Carty said he had spoken with the state’s real estate division, which indicated housing could be permitted if the board designates the project as serving a public purpose. He also pointed to a potential funding source — the Mid-Hudson Momentum Fund — which could support mixed-use housing with community components like daycare.

The site itself spans 30 acres, but D’Avella said only five acres would likely be needed. “We would build only where the ground has already been cleared — no tree removal, no steep slopes,” he said.

The town would retain ownership of the land under a long-term lease agreement, and Pennrose would manage the property. “We don’t outsource that,” D’Avella said. “We have our own in-house management team.”

If the board rejects use of the annex property, Roberts said other locations could be considered.

“There’s a site in Monticello we’re looking at on Broadway,” he said. “It’s privately owned, and we’re in talks with the owner now. But Fallsburg was the first to really express interest.”

The board is expected to continue discussing the proposal at future meetings.