Woodstock developer Lizzie Vann said she hoped the first phase of Project Regeneration, her proposal to remake the former Woodstock Library and Lasher Funeral Home properties, could be finished in 2027, with the full project completed by 2029.
Vann outlined that timeline on April 19 at a public meeting that drew about 100 people to the former library building. The proposal, now under review by the Woodstock Planning Board, would bring lower-cost housing, green space, and a mix of commercial and community uses to the two downtown parcels, which together total more than three acres.
Vann made her first formal appearance before the Planning Board on April 16. Even if the board approves the project, she would still need a zoning change from the Woodstock Town Board.
The proposal comes as communities across the Hudson Valley struggle with high housing costs, rents rising faster than wages, and the loss of long-term housing to short-term rentals. At a housing conference in October 2025, regional planners said Ulster County needed more than 3,300 additional housing units to meet demand.
Project Regeneration centers on the adaptive reuse of long-vacant buildings. Vann said she hoped the effort could create a model for other developers with the resources to take on similar work.
“I may be totally naive,” she said. “But that is really what we want to do.”
Before moving from her native United Kingdom to the United States, Vann founded Organix, an organic baby food company, in 1992. She sold the company in 2008 to Hero Group, the Switzerland-based parent company of brands including Beech-Nut.
During her years leading Organix, Vann said, she made the company’s baby food recipes public to show parents how easily healthy food could be made at home.
“I didn’t see the need for secrets, and believed something as important as what we feed children should be fully transparent,” she said. “We should be accountable to our customers.”
She said that same idea of transparency would shape Project Regeneration, especially its housing component.
“Transparency principles apply for me,” she said to those at the meeting. “Which is that, we will tell you, particularly when it applies to the low-cost housing, what the land costs, what the buildings cost, what the rent is, how much it costs to heat and cool those buildings.”
She continued, “We want to inspire other people, like me, that have the money, to go to other parts of Woodstock, or other parts of the Hudson Valley, and totally replicate it and utilize a template for how to do it.”
Vann said she also wanted other developers to know what the financial return is so “we basically stimulate the private sector to be able to get involved with affordable housing.”
Woodstock Supervisor Anula Courtis voiced support for the proposal.
“I think Project Regeneration is an exciting opportunity for Woodstock because it reflects the kind of thoughtful investment that can strengthen our local economy, create jobs, and support housing solutions for the people who live and work here,” Courtis said.
At Sunday’s meeting, Vann was joined by Ian Troxell, chief operating officer of Bearsville Center, and architect Graydon Yearick. They shared updates on the landscape plan, water management, housing, and the reuse of the site’s existing buildings.
The updates included:
- Plans to tap some of the 50,000 acres of water that migrate through the Project Regeneration campus on the way to the City of Kingston water supply. Landscaping plans call for retaining some of that water to preserve a range of species, build pollinator pathways, regenerate the soil, and shape a publicly walkable park around the buildings. The plans include ditches planted with water-absorbing species, a pond, and solar pumps to move water to gardens.
- The former library’s front lot is in a conservation easement and can never be built on.
Plans also call for:
- Replacing and slightly relocating the old funeral home behind the former Lasher property’s Victorian house.
- Renovating the former main library building for use by a commercial tenant, and converting the old book barn and library garage into housing units.
- Converting the barn on the former Lasher property, which now houses an antique business, into commercial space.
- Retrofitting the Victorian house and neighboring 106 Tinker St. with environmental upgrades.
- Locating parking in the rear, eliminating the Lasher entrance, and extending the driveway for 106 Tinker St. to provide access to rear parking.
- Constructing a new housing unit adjacent to 106 Tinker St.
John W. Barry is a reporter for The Overlook. Reach him at john@theoverlooknews.com.