[kznyc2k]

AMD changes chip fab design
Malta Planning Board is shown plans for more-compact factory

http://www.timesunion.com/shared/graphics/newsDb/X00249_9_2112009111729AM.jpg
Rick Whitney of M W Zander explains changes to the AMD chip fab Wednesday, Feb. 11, at a meeting with the Town of Malta Planning Board. (Philip Kamrass / Times Union)

By LARRY RULISON, Business writer
Thursday, February 12, 2009

MALTA — Advanced Micro Devices Inc. has changed the design of its $4.6 billion computer chip factory planned for Luther Forest Technology Campus.

Company officials and their engineers discussed the design Tuesday night with the Malta Planning Board as AMD seeks site plan approval and construction permits.

The 1.3 million-square-foot complex, which also includes office building and manufacturing support space, will be esthetically different than originally planned.

Renderings previously shown to the town had large footbridges between the clean room manufacturing space and the administrative offices. Those plans included a large rotunda at the entrance, which looked much like AMD's corporate headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif.

The new design, created by M+W Zander — the same company that designed and built Albany NanoTech — is much more square and compact and doesn't include the bridges or rotunda. The office space is now flush with the manufacturing area.

Steve Groseclose, AMD's global environmental, health and safety director, told the planning board that the new design fits better with the 222-acre parcel where the factory will be located.

"It nestles in there quite gracefully," he said, adding that the new design will better reflect the fab's future owners.

AMD is in the process of spinning off its costly manufacturing into a joint venture backed by money from the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The new company will have its own name and branding that has yet to be disclosed — a closely guarded secret.

Creation of the joint venture — temporarily called The Foundry Co. — has been delayed for at least a week. That's because AMD hadn't yet received enough votes from shareholders to approve the deal. As of Tuesday morning, 41.7 percent of shares had been voted, short of the 50 percent required.

It was unclear if large institutional shareholders or individuals were holding up the process. The Times Union called five of AMD's largest shareholders, such as Oppenheimer Funds Inc. in New York and Capital World Investors in Los Angeles, and they either did not respond or declined to say if they cast their votes.

The only shareholder that has confirmed having voted is Mubadala Development Co., an Abu Dhabi government investment fund that owns more than 8 percent of AMD's shares and is headed by Abu Dhabi's crown prince.

AMD is hoping to secure approval to begin clearing trees and moving soil at the Luther Forest site by the planning board's March 10 meeting.

Link (http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=769419&category=BUSINESS)

[kznyc2k]

Step forward for city project

Albany hires company to oversee development of comprehensive plan
By TIM O'BRIEN, Staff writer
Wednesday, February 18, 2009

ALBANY — The city hired a Philadelphia-based firm to lead its effort to create Albany's first comprehensive plan.

Wallace, Roberts & Todd specializes in planning, urban design, and architecture and has offices in seven cities.

The Common Council has appointed a 30-member committee to oversee the creation of a plan to examine everything from zoning to making the city bicycle and pedestrian friendly.

John Fernsler, principal of Wallace, Roberts & Todd, said it has led similar planning efforts in cities that include Camden, N.J., and Omaha, Neb., and designed urban street scapes in St. Louis and in Palo Alto, Calif.

With a city like Albany, Fernsler said, a major issue will be revitalizing the city rather than controlling growth. Community input will be gathered in a series of meetings over the course of more than a year as the plan is put together, he said.

Common Council member Daniel Herring, who is leading the Comprehensive Plan Board, said the firm was the consensus choice.

"They came across very strongly that they were really excited about this particular job," he said.

The board and the firm will negotiate over the scope of the work and the fee to be paid, Herring said. Creation of a plan is expected to take a year to 18 months to complete.

The city expects to spend about $430,000 on the project, said planning director Douglas Melnick. It has a $200,000 grant from the state Department of State for the work, which requires a $20,000 match. It also is awaiting state approval to use some funds from a grant to study brownfields, he said.

Over the years, the city has developed plans for neighborhoods like Park South and Arbor Hill, but this is the first time Albany has sought to develop a comprehensive citywide look at its future , Herring said.

The board is not expected to draw up specific changes to the zoning regulations, he said: "It seems better to develop your plan and then use your plan as a basis for doing rezoning work."

Wallace, Roberts & Todd were chosen from among 11 applicants. Three other firms were chosen to assist in the effort: Eng-Wong Taub & Associates, which focuses on transportation issues; Economic Stewardship Inc., which focuses on market opportunities; and PlaceMatters, a nonprofit organization that helps with public involvement.

The comprehensive plan board next meets at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 24 at the community development offices on Henry Johnson Boulevard.

Link (http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=771160&category=REGION)

[kznyc2k]

River offers a promising rail route

New CDTA study finds Hudson corridor has built-in advantages
By CATHY WOODRUFF, Business writer
First published in print: Wednesday, February 25, 2009

RENSSELAER — The most promising potential route for a light-rail line in the Capital Region isn't the often-touted straight shot down the Northway, a new study has found.

It's not even the well-established Route 9 corridor through suburban Malta, Clifton Park and Colonie.

Rather, the region's best bet for light rail runs along the Hudson River to Albany, through the historic industrial and residential communities of Waterford, Cohoes, Watervliet and Menands.

The so-called river corridor offers an intact rail right-of-way used by Canadian Pacific Railway. It's densely populated, dotted with employers and has good pedestrian infrastructure, including sidewalks and crosswalks.

"The bones are there," said Kristina Younger, the study's project manager at the Capital District Transportation Authority, which provides bus service in the region. "You are in a corridor that's got good urban fabric."

The river corridor is one of three north-south channels identified as ripe for transit improvements in a study commissioned by CDTA and the Senate High-Speed Rail Task Force.

A much-improved version of bus service in the river corridor, using well-established routes along Route 4 and Route 32, also has good prospects for success, according to the study's findings.

A vehicle with rubber tires that can travel on local streets provides greater flexibility in routes, while light rail would be limited to the track built for it, Younger said.

Still, "we were very careful not to eliminate light rail (as an option) in that one corridor" because of the intact rail right-of-way already in place for Canadian Pacific, said Jim Cartin, project manager with the rail task force.

Also targeted for upgrades in the study's findings were:

The Northway, where the best options were judged to be upgrades and expansion of the NX (Northway express) commuter bus service already provided by CDTA between Saratoga Springs and Albany.

The L-shaped route of existing rail lines used by Amtrak from Saratoga Springs to Schenectady and Schenectady to Albany and Rensselaer. where commuter rail service might flourish.

"The whole north-south orientation provides a market for improved transit service," said Carm Basile, CDTA's director of business development.

Parsons Brinckerhoff engineers produced the study in collaboration with staff from the rail task force, CDTA, the state Department of Transportation and the Capital District Transportation Committee, the region's prime transportation planning body.

Cartin said he was surprised by the strength of potential in the river corridor, though CDTA staffers were not.

The No. 22 bus line that runs daily along the corridor already is the second busiest on CDTA's route system, behind only the Route 5 (Central Avenue and State Street) path between Albany and Schenectady.

"What we tried to do is meld this plan to support local economic development," Cartin said. "It turned out to be a fascinating study."

Three Phases of Action

Soon (2009-14)
- Increase, restructure NX (Northway express) commuter bus service
- Refine river corridor options, develop consensus on bus rapid transit, light-rail transit
- Promote extension of NYC Amtrak service to Saratoga Springs and state rail improvements

Mid-term (2015-20)
- Upgrade NX service with signal priority, greater frequency and span
- Develop shuttles to Luther Forest Technology Campus, other emerging employment centers
- Complete river corridor construction, begin service
- Build new intermediate commuter rail station, provide shuttle to SUNY and airport

Long-term (2021-30)
- Build managed lanes on Northway for NX
- Buy rail equipment to expand commuter service
- Enhance river corridor service, as needed.

Link (http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=773528&category=BUSINESS)

[JManc]

wow, light rail. awesome.

[Ex-Ithacan]

Makes sense to me, but will the economy permit it?

[kznyc2k]

Who knows... this is just a study, surely one amongst dozens of studies that'll be done on that corridor before a shovel ever hits the ground, just like how they've dumped millions into Alb-NYC high speed rail studies for a decade or two now.

[kznyc2k]

Real estate: Easy Street? Think Again

Condo and apartment developers have tough sell in down market, but remain optimistic
The Business Review (Albany)
Friday, February 27, 2009

The developers of condo and apartment complexes saw opportunity in baby boomers. They saw opportunity, too, in well-paid professionals who would want high-end luxury apartments.

But a lot has changed in the last year alone. The slow real estate market and a culture that’s growing more frugal and cautious is generating more uncertainty among developers.

Even so, those in charge of several Capital Region projects remain optimistic. Jeff Thomas, who’s heading the effort to build Brandle Meadows near Altamont, is patient. He said selling his 72 condos to the 55-and-up market will simply take longer than he thought. But he’s confident he’ll make the project work, given the affordable prices he’s asking.

Still, developers like this, and ones with high-end apartments and condos, face a multi-faceted dilemma. Credit has been harder to come by, which affects both developers and their clients. Boomers, as they get closer to retirement, are facing depleted 401(k)s, and might not be in the mood to make a move. And even if they wanted to, they might not be able to sell their existing homes. Then, a concern to developers of high-end luxury apartments: Even well-paid professionals are cutting back as unemployment climbs.

Considering this climate, we wanted to revisit several Capital Region projects in various stages of completion. What has the economy changed? What we found are developers who point out that the Albany area is doing better than other regions of the country. They acknowledge some hardship—some are concerned about the credit crisis—but they report reasons for cautious optimism.

In this section, we look at six Capital Region developments, and where they stand in the midst of the recession.

Brandle Meadows
Guilderland, just over the Altamont village line
72 condominiums for people 55 and older
Developer: Jeff Thomas, owner of WeatherGuard Roofing in Schenectady
Project Cost: $11 million
Purchase price: $199,000 to $249,000, plus homeowner association fee
Unit size: 1,320 to 1,850 square feet
Status: The first 24 units are built and for sale; construction of second and third phases underway

Outlook: About one-third of the units have sold since sales began last August. The pace has been slower than expected, but still relatively good, Thomas said.

Activity ground to a near halt after the Wall Street meltdown last September on what Thomas calls America’s “9/15”—referring to the Monday after the Lehman Bros. collapse, and the near-failures of AIG and Merrill Lynch.

But things improved after the turn of the year.

“My goal from the beginning was to provide luxurious living packed full of amenities, but very affordable,” he said. “When the credit crunch came about, a lot of developers were out there with half-million dollar homes or condos. I had a very affordable project.”

Still, he knows there are prospective buyers concerned about their finances. His sales agent recently hosted a Saturday seminar in the community room at the development that drew 24 people to hear about reverse mortgages and other options.

He’s not concerned about ultimately selling all 72 units.

“If anything, it may take a bit longer than we thought,” he said. “But what we’re seeing for the spring is looking good. This is a project that was forecasted to be built in phases.”

The Alexander at Patroon Creek
Washington Avenue, Albany
300-unit apartment complex
Developer: Spanos Corp. of Atlanta
Project Cost: $44 million
Rental price: $1,055 to $1,995
Unit size: 770 to 1,500 square feet
Status: Under construction; first units expected to be ready by late spring; completion expected by fall

Outlook: Vic Pryles, division manager at Spanos Corp., admits the timing isn’t the best for new luxury units because of the economy. But he said Albany is in a better position than other parts of the country because of the growing high-tech sector.

People interested in the units have been calling for information even though the formal marketing campaign hasn’t begun. The apartment complex is located near the corporate headquarters of SEFCU and Capital District Physicians’ Health Plan.

“We’ve got a short list of names from people that work right in the vicinity,” he said.

Still, when asked whether the company will be forced to discount its rents or offer incentives to fill the units, he said it’s too early to predict.

“I won’t say that’s out of the question,” he said. “We’ve had to do that in other parts of the country, but I wouldn’t want to commit to that right now. As we get closer to opening the doors, we’ll have to make those decisions based on current market conditions.”

Waterside
Dyke Avenue, Cohoes
132 apartments for people aged 50 and over
Developer: Finning Properties in Green Island
Project cost: $11.7 million
Rental price: $850 to $995
Unit size: 865 to 988 square feet
Status: Fully built as of last year

Outlook: About 100 of the units are leased. The pace of leasing is slower than what the developers hoped for, but on par with the national average for senior housing—five to six units per month, said Jim Finning, president of Finning Properties.

“I wish I could tell you we were full today and we would be very happy owners,” said Finning, who partnered on the project with David Whitney. “We’re doing well, all things considered.”

Finning isn’t sure how the collapse of the stock market and the shrinking of 401(k) accounts will affect the development, which is geared toward “active” seniors. Those are the very people who may have been counting on a healthy investment portfolio—not to mention selling their primary home—to pay for the next chapter in their lives.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty with this market, with this economy and how the baby boomers respond to the complicated economy,” he said. “I don’t think that’s fully shaken out yet.”

He added, “Right now, as long as we can continue to rent five to 10 units per month, the product we offer seems like it’s in demand.”

The Residences of Lexington Hills
Boght Road in Cohoes, near Latham
312 apartments and 98 condominiums
Developer: Capital District Properties LLC
Project cost: About $45 million
Apartment rental price: $1,000 to $1,800
Unit size: N.A.
Condo purchase price: N.A.
Status: Plans being reviewed by the city of Cohoes. Construction expected to begin in 2010.

Outlook: Toby Milde, managing director of Capital District Properties LLC, said the apartments would likely be built before the condominiums, given today’s financing environment.

The development is patterned after another Capital District Properties project, The Paddocks of Saratoga, in Wilton.

The first 192 units in Wilton have rented fast, but the recession has already had an impact. A few tenants have been laid off from their jobs, and Milde expects to lose some more leases over the next several months due to layoffs.

“I think there are a lot of people out there who are in a different financial situation from where they were a year and a half ago,” Milde said. “But I also think for every person who cannot afford it, someone else might have slid down and now might be looking for a condo rather than a house, or an apartment rather than a for-sale product. Everybody’s shifting.”

He noted that the Capital Region has one of the lowest apartment-vacancy rates in the U.S., based on Census data.

“We happen to have an incredibly tight apartment market, so our approach is to continue focusing on apartment development,” he said.

Captain’s Lookout
Van Schaick Island, Cohoes
140 condominiums
Developer: VLG Development in East Greenbush
Project cost: $25.2 million
Purchase price: $325,000 to $400,000
Unit size: 1,400 to 2,500 square feet
Status: Design approved by city. Condo offering plan not yet submitted to state attorney general’s office.

Outlook: Victor Gush, owner of VLG Development, isn’t concerned about selling the units as much as he is about securing financing to build the condos.

“The banks are closed down,” he said, “so that makes things a little bit more difficult. We’re not going to start building until we get at least one half of the buildings sold out.”

Gush said he has only talked to one lender so far and was told that financing wouldn’t be available.

But he’s encouraged by the success of a similar project next door called Admiral’s Walk. He sold the land where that 96-unit development is being built along the Hudson River by Coldwell Banker Prime Properties and Adirondack Development Group LLC.

The Bentley
8 Wall St., Clifton Park
168 condominiums for people 55 and older
Developer: DCG Development Co. in Clifton Park
Project Cost: N.A.
Purchase price: Undetermined
Unit size: 600 to 1,400 square feet (approximate)
Status: Under construction; condominium offering plan being reviewed by state attorney general’s office; first units may be available in March

Outlook: Donald MacElroy, vice president of DCG Development, said the economic slowdown is bound to have an impact on the sale of the condominiums, but there is also a lot of pent-up demand in town for this type of living.

“We would anticipate that a significant number of people in our target market have a good deal of equity built up in an existing home,” he said.

He realizes the slowdown in the real estate market could make it difficult for some seniors to sell their homes before they buy a unit at The Bentley. He also knows many baby boomers have seen their retirement accounts pummeled by the sharp drop in the stock market.

Nevertheless, he said the size of the complex—168 units—seems on par with the number of inquiries that have been received thus far.

The project was originally designed for 200 units but the number was reduced to allow for larger units within the same footprint. The building features an underground parking garage and fitness room. It’s also located within walking distance to the YMCA and a supermarket.

“Every day, people are asking me, ‘What’s going on? When are they going to be available?’ ”

— Research by Michael DeMasi

Link (http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2009/03/02/focus1.html?b=1235970000^1784893)

[jcssforumjc]

Developer of de Laet's Landing sets condition before moving ahead

By CHRIS CHURCHILL, Business writer
Click byline for more stories by writer.
First published: Tuesday, February 17, 2009

RENSSELAER — The construction firm planning a massive commercial, residential and retail complex for the Hudson River waterfront intends to break ground on the much-anticipated project by early summer.
But Troy-based U.W. Marx Inc. will only begin development of de Laet's Landing if it can pre-lease space in the building that will kick off construction, a six-story structure that would face the water and downtown Albany.

"We're not going to go forward without a tenant," said Jeff West, vice president at U.W. Marx.

That the company is still moving forward on a project with costs estimated at $300 million might be a surprise to some, as the global economic crisis has stalled several other planned Capital Region developments.

Just last week, in fact, Norstar Development USA said its inability to secure the loans needed for construction had forced it to table the Capital Grand condominium complex north of downtown Albany.

U.W. Marx has not secured final financing for de Laet's Landing, but West on Monday insisted the company is confident it can do so.

As planned, de Laet's Landing is one of the more ambitious projects in Capital Region history. And it is seen as potentially transformational for a riverfront that mostly lacks residential or retail development.

In total, the 1.5-million-square-foot project is proposed to include a marina, pier, promenade, shops and restaurants, offices, and 500 residences.

"There'll be nothing like it," said Tony Sabatino, an agent at RealtyUSA, the Albany firm hired to find tenants for the complex. "The riverfront will never be the same."

Marketing renderings of de Laet's Landing show a broad blue harbor, sailboats and crowds of strolling pedestrians. It's a scene very much unlike what one finds now in the area, which is a short distance from the CDTA Rensselaer Rail Station.

Marybeth Pettit, the director of planning in the small city of Rensselaer, has even compared the project's public promenade to that at Baltimore's Inner Harbor, the project that helped transform that city's waterfront.

Some real estate observers have quietly questioned the viability of de Laet's Landing, perhaps because the project is so novel for the area. But U.W. Marx has shown remarkable commitment to the project.

In 2004, the company proposed to construct new buildings for the middle school and high school that were then on the site. The new schools opened early in 2008, and U.W. Marx began demolishing the schools last May — clearing the land for redevelopment.

The project, which still needs some approvals from the state and the city of Rensselaer, could take more than a decade to construct. But West said the first building and some adjacent townhomes could be completed by the end of the year.

The building, designed by Olsen Associates of Saratoga Springs, is a glass-and-masonry, triangular structure oriented toward the river. The flat-roofed building might also have first-floor retail.

Chris Churchill can be reached at 454-5442 or by e-mail at cchurchill@timesunion.com.

[IMG]http://www.timesunion.com/Shared/Graphics/NewsDB/0217_waterfront_2__TN.jpg

[IMG]http://www.timesunion.com/Shared/Graphics/NewsDB/0217_waterfront_4__TN.jpg

[kznyc2k]

^ welcome aboard, jcss.

Rail plan is touted as key to funding

Paterson, others say it gives state better chance for slice of stimulus pie
By CATHY WOODRUFF, Business writer
Tuesday, March 10, 2009

RENSSELAER - Gov. David Paterson assembled a battalion of political heavy hitters at Rensselaer Rail Station on Monday to tout a new $10.7 billion state rail improvement plan.

The governor and others say the plan should strengthen New York's hand in vying for federal dollars to help fund the infrastructure projects it envisions.

"Today, we are here to take the first step toward revitalizing our rail system for the next century," Paterson said, describing the rail plan as an "honest and achievable" blueprint for 20 years of improvements.

The rail plan is New York's first in 22 years.

Paterson, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer and a coalition of Congressional representatives say having it will boost prospects for winning a share of $8 billion set aside in the federal economic stimulus plan for high-speed rail, and for additional federal rail funding over the next 5 years.

For passenger rail, the plan sets a goal of doubling ridership, which was 1.6 million last year, on Amtrak's corridors west, south and north of Albany.

For freight rail, the goal is to increase freight-hauling by 25 percent to reduce exhaust emissions, highway congestion and shipping costs.

This plan is short on specifics about the expected improvements projected in passenger train speed and reliability, but it sets priorities for investment to achieve improvements in line with recommendations and projections in other studies.

Upgrading service and travel time between the Capital Region and western New York is a key focus through a new Third Track Initiative that would cost $3 billion over the next five years.

The project would add a third express track and improve existing tracks and signal systems within the congested, delay-prone corridor's existing right-of-way.

Installation of a second track between Albany and Schenectady also is part of the plan to reduce bottlenecks along the route, where freight and passenger trains compete for available track and often must wait for one another to pass.

U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter, a Rochester-area Democrat and founder of a bipartisan Upstate New York Caucus, has made improving the Albany-to-Niagara Falls rail stretch a priority for the new caucus. She said the rail plan will support that effort.

"The lack of reliable transportation has had a lot to do with the demise of the upstate economy," Slaughter said Monday.

"Given the fact that we have studied this to death for 25 years, I really believe that we can say we are shovel-ready," she said.

Recent studies by the state Department of Transportation and others have found that top speeds of 110 mph would be a reasonable interim goal that could noticeably reduce travel time between Albany and Buffalo.

Maximum legal train speeds along the east-west route now are 79 mph and average speed is closer to 60 mph, noted Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, a Buffalo area Democrat and a longtime high-speed rail advocate.

If those speeds could be improved by even 30 percent, he said, "that's a very significant improvement."

Amtrak's schedule puts the trip between Rensselaer and Buffalo at 4 hours, 55 minutes, but the actual average travel time is more like 5 hours and 44 minutes. On a particularly bad day, it can take close to 8 hours.

Previous studies have estimated that new tracks allowing speeds of up to 110 mph could bring the trip time under 4 hours.

Merely improving the existing tracks and signals could bring it under 5 hours.

Between Albany/Rensselaer and Manhattan, the goal considered realistic is 2 hours for an express train, down 30 minutes from the current trip.

Between Albany and Montreal, the plan aims to reduce the more-than 8-hour trip to 61/2 hours.

The group standing with Paterson at Rensselaer Rail Station included members of Congress, the state Senate and Assembly and at least two Republicans, State Sen. Hugh Farley of Niskayuna and Mayor Harry Tutunjian of Troy.

Hoyt said the united show of support bodes well for progress on New York rail improvements after years of decline, particularly given the interest in funding at the federal level.

"I consider this the most significant advancement of passenger rail in New York in a century," he said.

"The stars are aligning," said Bruce Becker, president of the Empire State Passengers Association, a rail advocacy group. "Everyone is lining up behind it."

Link (http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=777961&category=BUSINESS)

[kznyc2k]

Showtime for $15 million plan?

Development plan calls for a new building to be constructed behind Proctor's facade
By KENNETH C. CROWE II, Staff writer
Tuesday, March 10, 2009

TROY A $15 million development proposal would solve the riddle of what to with the deteriorated Proctor's Theater by raising a new building behind its historic facade.

The city, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Columbia Development announced plans Monday to demolish the unusable performance space on Fourth Street and redevelop the nearby three-story Chasan Building. That building is across the street from the post office on Broadway.

More than 100,000 square feet of commercial office and retail space would be developed between the two buildings, which fill most of the east side of Fourth Street between State Street and Broadway.

"The Proctor's Theater and Chasan buildings are in the heart of the downtown business district, and for decades Troy has been without this vital centerpiece,'' Mayor Harry Tutunjian said in a statement.

The theater closed in 1978. RPI bought the theater in 2004 after plans to renovate it as a hotel did not proceed. RPI also owns the Chasan building.

The city will apply for a $5 million Restore NY grant to help fund the project. Jeff Buell, a city spokesman, said the grant would be written in the next two months.

Details about how the project will be developed are still under discussion. A time line has not been announced.

"The private-public partnership proposed by the city is exactly what Rensselaer envisioned when we step in to acquire Proctor's,'' Claude D. Rounds, RPI's vice president for administration, said in a statement.

While RPI owns the buildings, that is expected to change.

"We still own the properties, but we expect a private owner will develop them as we move forward,'' said Jason Gorss, a spokesman for the university.

Columbia Development is building the Hilton Garden Inn on Hoosick Street and is involved in the conversion of the former Best Western Inn on Sixth Avenue into dorms for RPI.

The redevelopment proposal was warmly greeted by the Rensselaer County Regional Chamber of Commerce.

"That's definitely the heart of downtown. It will be a huge plus for the city and the county,'' said Jake Dumesnil, the chamber vice president.

Each time a major building is rejuvenated downtown, such as the Cannon and the Hendrick Hudson buildings were, it brings more activity downtown, Dumesnil observed.

Tutunjian, a Republican, touted the bipartisan support for the project. Democratic Councilman John Brown said, "Downtown Troy has seen a rebirth in the last few years and a project of this magnitude would be icing on the cake."

Link (http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=778003&category=REGION)

[kznyc2k]

Credit markets stall Albany Med expansion

The Business Review - by Adam Sichko
Friday, March 6, 2009

Albany Medical Center’s $360 million expansion plan remains delayed in the stagnant credit market, and it’s unclear that construction will begin this year, as initially planned.

The expansion is the largest in the 170-year-old history of the academic health sciences center. The project obtained required state approval in December 2008, but construction has still not started, said spokesman Greg McGarry.

“We’re going to wait for more favorable rates from the banks,” McGarry said. “It’s not an opportune time to be borrowing.

“There’s been no decision on when it’ll start. Three months, six months, nine months—we don’t know,” he added.

Officials have said they plan to raise about $50 million through a capital campaign and issue bonds to cover the remaining $310 million cost. Construction was initially scheduled to begin sometime later this year, ending in 2012.

Albany Med plans to issue bonds through the state Dormitory Authority, and conditions aren’t favorable for that right now, McGarry said. Albany Med also submitted an application to receive money from the federal stimulus, but any funding received would cover just a portion of total project costs, he added.

“It’ll get done and it’ll happen, but probably not on the timetable we’d originally planned,” McGarry said.

The planned six-story complex will include a neonatal intensive care unit, 20 operating rooms, recovery rooms, expanded adult intensive care beds and additional general medical/surgical beds.

Admissions to Albany Med have risen by more than 27 percent over the past several years—from 24,300 in 2001 to 31,000 in 2007. Officials expect annual admissions to top 40,000 a year by the time the project is completed.

“It’s not being canceled. It’s very much needed,” McGarry said. “The growth patterns we’ve seen in the past several years are real, and we need to accommodate more patients.”

Albany Med employs roughly 7,000 people.

Link (http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2009/03/02/daily47.html?)

[kznyc2k]

Architecture & Enginnering: The stimulus—a boon for design firms?

Architects, engineers prep for more work as fed funds flow
The Business Review - by Robin K. Cooper
Friday, March 6, 2009

Einhorn Yaffee Prescott Architecture & Engineering already is reaping the benefits of the federal economic stimulus, not three weeks after President Barack Obama signed the spending bill.

The Albany firm was told recently to start working on a federal courthouse renovation in Indianapolis after the project stalled last year as the economy soured and federal funds dried up.

News that the project was moving forward came as Congress was finalizing the $787 billion stimulus package.

“Fortunately for us, the stimulus focuses on areas where we have a lot of expertise,” said Thomas Birdsey, EYP’s chief executive.

Architecture firms around the country are preparing to compete for new government projects as federal agencies begin spending stimulus funds.

By some accounts, the stimulus is expected to create or save 14,000 architecture jobs around the country over the next two years.

When EYP decided five years ago to focus on two markets—government projects and higher education—Birdsey had no idea then that a recession was coming. He had no idea that a federal stimulus package would seek to reinvigorate the economy by pumping money into federal construction projects or education.

The stimulus includes $130 billion for construction, design and engineering work. The package includes another $53 billion in education funds, a portion of which could be used toward school modernization projects. Companies that focus on school construction were disappointed that more money wasn’t allocated for new projects, but the stimulus still is expected to help.

“The National Park Service and other agencies are telling us to be prepared to do a lot more work for them,” Birdsey said.

The prospect of new stimulus-backed design and engineering projects comes at a time when architecture firms have been hit hard by the economic downturn.

Billings across the U.S. have decreased for 11 consecutive months as the number of residential and commercial projects continues to shrink, according to the American Institute of Architects.

“This is probably the worst time for the profession in the last 20 years,” Birdsey said.

Still, EYP has managed to grow at a time when the construction industry is struggling. Total billings grew 13 percent last year to $51 million and the EYP workforce increased by 22 to 292 throughout the five offices from Boston to Orlando, Fla. Meanwhile Capital Region billings grew 8.2 percent to $23.3 million.

Birdsey attributes growth to EYP’s strategy of focusing on energy conservation as well as higher education and government work—all focus areas in the stimulus package.

“Our biggest challenge right now is finding talented architects and talented engineers with experience doing the kind of buildings we do,” Birdsey said.

EYP isn’t alone.

The LA Group, a Saratoga Springs-based architecture and engineering firm, also is gearing up for more federal projects.

The firm has worked with the Dept. of Veterans Affairs for 12 years and the National Park Service for the past seven. The company also signed a contract with the U.S. Forest Service two years ago.

“We are positioned well to win some of the work that will be coming through these agencies,” said Joe Sporko, a managing principal at the LA Group.

Government projects account for one-third of The LA Group’s annual billings.

Design and engineering firms around the country are vying for a piece of the action, according to Andrew Goldberg, senior director of federal relations for the American Institute of Architects.

Federal agencies such as the U.S. General Services Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs have compiled lists of projects that they plan to fund through the stimulus.

The General Services Administration will receive $5.5 billion in stimulus funds, including $4.5 billion for green or energy conservation-type construction projects.

“They are ramping up very quickly,” Goldberg said. “Checks probably won’t be there until April, but they’re starting to move.”

That bodes well for firms like EYP, which recently was selected by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to develop a plan to encourage community colleges and universities to make buildings more energy-efficient.

EYP also has been working with the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering at the University at Albany to study and enhance the use of emerging energy-efficient construction technology for the past two years.

Those relationships could give EYP an advantage as the federal agencies fund energy-related construction projects, Birdsey said.

“My hope is that some of those federal research dollars will find their way into higher education. In the long term, I think it could lead to more job creation,” Birdsey said.

The stimulus package certainly will help the design and engineering sectors, said Goldberg of the American Institute of Architects.

“But the recession is so deep, and the impacts on construction are so severe, that the stimulus is not by any means going to solve all of the problems,” he said.

The U.S. has neglected to fund building and highway projects for so long that it will take a while to catch up.

It would cost roughly $2.2 trillion to repair the nation’s aging infrastructure, according to a recent report by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

“There is recognition out there of just how badly underfunded our infrastructure really is,” Goldberg said. “The stimulus is a down payment.”

[url="http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2009/03/09/focus1.html?b=1236571200^1789078"]Link[url]

[kznyc2k]

Ex-hotel yields to future vision
Demolition starts on former Wellington Hotel to make room for new office space

http://timesunion.com//Shared/Graphics/NewsDB/0325_wellington_3_.jpg

http://timesunion.com//Shared/Graphics/NewsDB/SJ%200325_WELLINGTON%204.jpg

By JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST, Staff writer
First published in print: Wednesday, March 25, 2009

ALBANY — The Wellington Hotel and its four decrepit State Street neighbors are finally yielding to demolition as their block that became the shameful face of blight in Albany begins its rebirth.

Columbia Development Companies began the job this weekend on Wellington Row that will give rise to new office, commercial and residential space designed to maintain the block's historic streetscape.

The five empty historic buildings at 132-140 State St., which also include the former Berkshire Hotel and a nearly century-old Elks Lodge, have decayed for years, left open to the elements and vermin and at the same time striking a profile of decline in full view of the state Capitol.

Columbia's plan to redevelop the block between Eagle and Lodge streets followed a protracted legal battle that pitted the city against the buildings' former owner, London-based Sebba Rockaway Ltd., over their neglect.

The problem could no longer be ignored when a section of decorative cornice near the Wellington's 10th-story roof threatened to crash down onto State Street in 2004, forcing the closure of parts of the busy thoroughfare.

"This isn't just Albany's sort of Main Street here, it's New York's Main Street," said Mike Yevoli, Albany's commissioner of development and planning.

Columbia's roughly $60 million plans call for the stabilization and restoration of the facades of 132-134, 138 and 140 State St., a compromise that pacified preservationists concerned about the loss of the buildings completely — once sought by Sebba Rockaway.

The facade of the Wellington at 136 State St. will be taken down and parts of it preserved and replaced by a new similar-size building to rise in its place, said Joe Nicolla, Columbia's president.

The Wellington will front a new, larger 14-story office tower that Columbia intends to build behind it and the other buildings.

Crews had been removing asbestos and began demolition this weekend, Nicolla said.

The Berkshire Hotel at 140 State is so decayed that an engineer inspecting the property "literally fell through the floor," Nicolla said.

"The roof is in the basement," he said. "We're going to stabilize the façade and build a new residential building behind it."

Nicolla said demolition could be complete by midsummer, but the start of construction is contingent on the developer securing tenant commitments and financing for the project.

"I'm talking to a few people," Nicolla said, declining to elaborate. "We're actively working on it, which means good things."

The demolition is funded, in part, through a $2.5 million grant to the city from the Empire State Development Corp., Yevoli said, adding he's not concerned the economic downturn might leave financing and tenants for the project scarce.

"With the economic uncertainties I think we're doing all we can" to help the project succeed, he said. "The time will be right, and we're confident of that."

Link (http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=783471&category=REGION)

[Lance]

Thanks for posting the article kznyc2k, I took a walk by the Wellington Row today and it looks like hell. Of course, it looked like that before they started taking it down. I sorta assumed the rebuilding plan was on hold given the economy and Albany's lack of a need for more office space, but anything replacing that block is an improvement.

[kznyc2k]

Construction: With chip fab close, developers’ bets look better

The Business Review (Albany) - by Robin K. Cooper
Friday, March 27, 2009

Developers are charging ahead with $200 million in new construction in Malta, anticipating GlobalFoundries’ proposed $4.2 billion computer chip plant will attract new businesses and thousands of workers.

At a time when the sluggish economy and tight credit have delayed or canceled many Capital Region projects, a handful of developers are risking millions of dollars to build condos, offices, retail space and single-family homes in Malta, the Saratoga County town where the chip fab will be built.

These investments are on top of the billions that will go into building the 1.2 million-square-foot chip fab.

Developers are betting on the prospect of supplying offices, restaurants, housing and retail shops to support the 1,400 workers expected to be employed at GlobalFoundries—the manufacturing spinoff of Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

Activity is heating up in Malta this spring as developers await the start of construction on the GlobalFoundries plant, which is expected to begin as early as April. Many projects are underway, despite lingering concerns by some analysts and industry watchers who have been skeptical the plant will ever be built. AMD is battling through a tough economy that has forced the company to lay off workers and report net losses of $3 billion in 2008 and $3.4 billion in 2007.

Nonetheless, a total of 1,200 construction workers are expected to be employed at the Luther Forest Tech Campus by summer, once construction of the 220-acre chip plant is in full swing, said Michael Relyea, president of the tech campus.

“If anything in this economy is going to sell, we are going to do it,” said Victor Gush, a longtime Schodack developer who has built numerous apartment, condo and waterfront projects in the region.

Condos, offices & retail

Gush and business partner Frank Tate invested $8 million in their proposed $80 million “new urbanist” project called Park Place. New urbanist projects are typically inspired by traditional downtowns, with homes, stores and businesses within walking distance. This development will include 230 condos, 54 single-family homes and 115,000 square feet of offices and retail space. The project is located across from the west entrance of Luther Forest Tech Campus.

Finning Properties Investment & Development of Green Island will build the condos and commercial portions of the project. DeGraff Bloom Custom Builders Inc. of Charlton was hired to construct the single-family homes after a previous builder ran into problems from the tight lending market, Gush said.

Park Place is one of a half-dozen multimillion dollar projects that is either under construction or scheduled to break ground this spring.

“When this thing takes off, property in the Capital Region and this area will escalate tremendously,” Gush said. “There isn’t enough housing for these people.”

That theory is what motivated developer Neil Swingruber of Albany Partners LLC to move forward with Ellsworth Commons—a multimillion-dollar luxury apartment and retail complex on Route 9, less than a mile north of the tech park. It’s one of three developments Albany Partners has either completed or planned around the tech park.

“We’ve been drinking AMD Kool-Aid for a while now,” Swingruber said.

AP Construction Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Albany Partners, will begin construction of Ellsworth this spring. The project will take two years to complete.

Restaurant operators, an insurance company and a dry cleaner already have contacted Albany Partners about leasing retail space, but no contracts have been signed.

“In an otherwise tough economic environment, this market is going to be one of the best places to be,” Swingruber said.

He and business partner Bruce Schnitz also built the 234-unit Steeplechase at Malta luxury apartment complex, on Route 9, in 2006. Occupancy at Steeplechase has been well above 90 percent since it opened, Swingruber said.

‘A major engine of growth’

The chip fab will do more than create jobs for GlobalFoundries workers; it will create a demand for housing, restaurants, stores and support services, Swingruber said.

“It’s going to be a major engine of growth,” he said.

Albany Partners also has proposed a multimillion-dollar, mixed-use project closer to the west entrance of Luther Forest.

The project, Blacksmith Square, which still needs town approvals, would include 12,500 square feet of retail space and 175 luxury apartments. Construction of that development likely will begin next year if the approvals are in place.

Other sectors, too, are speculating about the potential growth and business opportunities in Malta and surrounding areas. Banks and investors from around the country have contacted Relyea, the Luther Forest Tech Campus president, and Anthony Tozzi, Malta’s town planner, in recent weeks to ask if Malta is a good environment in which to invest.

It takes all kinds

The excitement surrounding the chip fab has attracted developments of all sizes.

Tim Conley, president of Conley Associates, an Albany brokerage, teamed up with a silent partner to develop a $4.3 million, 36,000-square-foot office project on Route 9 in Malta. The project being developed under the name Visionary Partners LLC included two buildings and will be completed in the next few months.

Visionary Partners bought the five-acre site at auction in December 2006 for $865,000, before property values started to escalate due to speculation that the chip plant might be built here.

“There was no class A office space. We saw a big void. That’s why we built on spec,” Conley said.

The first building, completed last year, is 75 percent full, housing a law firm, lobbyist group and Keller Williams real estate office.

Conley said the second building, which is under construction, already has signed a lease for SGS International to occupy 60 percent of the building.

Other kinds of developments have emerged since the computer chip plant proposal was introduced.

In January, LeChase Construction began building Hudson Valley Community College’s 44,000-square-foot Tec-Smart campus at the Saratoga Technology + Energy Park in Malta.

The $15 million school is being built to train technicians to work at the chip plant and in other emerging technologies that involve semiconductor manufacturing and alternative energy.

The state-funded project is expected to train 300 to 500 technicians in the next three to five years.

“This is going to be such a calling card for companies coming in and saying ‘Where am I going to get the staff to work here?’” said Joseph Sarubbi, a Hudson Valley professor and executive director of Tec-Smart. “This is a multibillion dollar investment that’s taking place. It puts the Capital Region on the map, not only at a national level but on an international level.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BY THE NUMBERS

As soon as the plans for Advanced Micro Devices’ Malta chip fab were introduced in 2006, all kinds of numbers were being thrown around—from the cost of the project to the amount of money the state promised AMD to lure it here. Things have changed a bit since then. AMD spun off its manufacturing into a new operation, GlobalFoundries, which will now be running the chip fab. And the plant will cost more than the $3.2 billion figure first announced in 2006.

Here’s a look at some of the other—and latest—numbers associated with the project:

The money

$4.2 billion—Cost of the GlobalFoundries/AMD project
$3.85 billion—Cost of utilities, road construction and other improvements
$807 million—Cost of building, land and equipment
$1.2 billion—Size of the state incentive package that helped lure chip fab to Malta

The people

14,379—Malta town population in 2007
15,345—Projected town population in 2020
7.4 percent—Net population increase in Saratoga County from 2000-07, 1 percent higher than the national rate
0—Other upstate counties that exceeded the national growth rate over that time

The sheer size

780,000—Square footage of the chip fab after first phase
1.2 million—Square footage of the chip fab at full build-out
205,000—Square footage of the average Wal-Mart supercenter

The jobs

1,200—Construction jobs on GlobalFoundries site by summer
713—Number of GlobalFoundries jobs by 2011
1,190—Jobs by 2012
1,205—Jobs by 2013
1,465—Jobs by 2014

Estimated annual salaries of various positions at GlobalFoundries

$140,000—management
$91,559—engineers
$58,490—technicians
$29,655—wafer fab operators

----------------------------------

rcooper@bizjournals.com | 518-640-6808
Link (http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2009/03/30/focus1.html?b=1238385600^1800768#)

[JManc]

looks like the area is holding its own. a good thing.

[kznyc2k]

Out of work, and not by design

Architects find they are more vulnerable than many other professions in a downturn
By CHRIS CHURCHILL, Business writer
Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Homi Mistry spent two decades as an architect, designing schools, prisons, housing and more in the Capital Region and beyond. But a year ago, Mistry's employer in Latham laid him off, placing the blame on the souring economy.

Mistry still is looking for a replacement job. In his profession, many are doing the same.

Indeed, few fields are more vulnerable to economic slowdowns than architecture. And this recession, with its credit crunch and faltering real estate markets, has been particularly difficult for the profession. Some Capital Region firms have laid off workers. And firms that are hiring are inundated with applications.

In a normal year, 3t Architects gets 15 to 20 responses for job openings. When the downtown Albany firm advertised for an architect in February, it received 300 applications.

"And they were from all over the country," said Scott Townsend, principal at 3t.

Architecture firms are what economists call a leading economic indicator: If an architecture firm is designing an office building today, hundreds of construction workers will be hired to build the structure months down the line.

But the reverse is true, too: If business at architecture firms is slow, it's a bad omen. And, oh, has it been slow.

So much so that architecture firms nationally shed 18,000 jobs from August to January, a number equivalent to 7.5 percent of all jobs at those firms, according to the American Institute of Architects.

The AIA does not have local job-loss numbers, but architects interviewed for this story didn't think the Capital Region has been hit quite that hard. Yet they said a source of much of the national carnage is affecting firms here, too.

"The banks are not in a position where they really want to lend to development," said Robert Bristol, chairman and president of Saratoga Associates, an architecture and urban design firm in Saratoga Springs. "The banks are being extremely cautious."

Saratoga Associates is among the Capital Region firms that have laid off workers since the start of the year, though Bristol declined to say how many employees were cut. The firm also has offices in Syracuse and Manhattan.

"I think the design community has changed for the long term," he said. "Sections of the business just aren't there anymore,"

Firms here say the Capital Region's architecture scene has long benefited from an unusual stability. That's partly because developers are more conservative, refusing the boom-and-bust binges that characterize cities like Houston or Atlanta.

Then, there is the stabilizing influence of state government. In years past, the state has kept local firms busy during cooling economies.

But that's much less true this year, and architects said the budget crisis has dramatically slowed the flow of state money.

Not all firms, of course, are cutting back.

Einhorn Yaffee Prescott Architecture & Engineering PC, headquartered in Albany, says it will hire 10 to 15 people in the coming year, adding to its 300 employees, including about 125 locally. CEO Tom Birdsey attributed the growth in part to the firm's focus on higher education, science and technology, and energy-efficient buildings.

Brett Balzer, a principal at Balzer Hodge Tuck in Saratoga Springs, said that firm hasn't had layoffs, but is aggressively marketing itself for the first time because "the phone is not ringing."

Francis Pitts, principal at Architecture Plus in Troy, said his firm is busy enough that it could hire, but isn't doing so because of fears of a worsening economy.

Architects might have reason for optimism in AIA statistics last month that showed an uptick in new project inquires, suggesting what the group called "some moderation in the downturn" even as "business conditions at architecture firms remain very weak."

That's hardly heartening for experienced architects, like Mistry, now looking for jobs.

Mistry, a 56-year-old who lives in Delmar, said he has applied to nearly every firm in the Capital Region — and many way beyond its borders.

"Whenever we have a recession, the first ones to go are the architects," he said.

Link (http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=787717&category=BUSINESS)

[kznyc2k]

looks like the area is holding its own. a good thing.

Up to this point it has been doing ok, but things are set to get hairy with the upcoming state budget and employee cuts.

[JManc]

Up to this point it has been doing ok, but things are set to get hairy with the upcoming state budget and employee cuts.

that's pretty much the case all over right now. hiring freezes and cuts all over the country. i think albany will be alright. at least i hope...i'm moving there.

[Lance]

that's pretty much the case all over right now. hiring freezes and cuts all over the country. i think albany will be alright. at least i hope...i'm moving there.

Wow, welcome! Well, when you get here. We should attempt another Albany meet-up, I think there were three of us last time we did one a few years ago.

The state job cuts will not all be in Albany, even if Paterson does managed to get his 8700 jobs slashed. Given how things work here, I'd be shocked if it really comes to that.

[kznyc2k]

City seeks state funds for projects

Plans for remaking former Boyd Printing Co. and old St. Joseph's School each draw requests for $5M

By CHRIS CHURCHILL, Business writer
First published in print: Saturday, May 2, 2009

ALBANY � City officials on Friday unveiled plans for a project that would remake the former Boyd Printing Co. property on Sheridan Avenue.

Clifton Park-based Cass Hill Development proposes redeveloping the site for commercial and residential uses, while constructing an adjacent seven-story building for apartments or condominiums.

The plans for Sheridan Place, as the complex would be called, were discussed Friday morning by Mike Yevoli, the city's commissioner of planning and development, during a public hearing on applications for money from the Restore NY program administered by Empire State Development Corp.

The city is asking the state for $5 million to assist the Sheridan project. It also is requesting $5 million for the redevelopment of the former St. Joseph's School on Swan Street into apartments, and studios for artists.

Yevoli said the city determined that both projects met the guidelines for the Restore NY program, which seeks to boost development that otherwise would not be commercially viable and meets city long-term goals.

"It's been an all-hands-on-deck process for us," Yevoli said of the grant applications, which are due on Monday.

Sheridan Place aids the city's goal of adding housing downtown, Yevoli said, while sparking development in a section of downtown that includes significant recent construction � including the Hampton Inn & Suites on Chapel Street, near North Pearl Street � but also has many dilapidated industrial and apartment buildings.

The former Boyd building is vacant. The company sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2005, and put the building up for sale then. Several developers expressed interest in the site, but nothing materialized.

Cass Hill bought it last year. Marc Paquin, principal of the company, could not be reached for comment Friday.

The plan, as described by Yevoli, would demolish several properties along Sheridan, but keep the four-story brick building that was the heart of Boyd's operations. He said Cass Hill is still determining the precise mix of uses at the site, including exactly what the commercial part of the project would entail.

Cass Hill is familiar with the neighborhood: The company in 2007 turned 30,000 square feet of industrial space at 25 Monroe St. into office space for Zone 5, an advertising and public relations firm.

The school plan is tied to the city's broad Arbor Hill Reclamation Project, which has targeted properties across the neighborhood for renovation or redevelopment. The Restore NY money would also be used for the renovation of scattered buildings along Henry Johnson Boulevard and Clinton Avenue, Yevoli said.

The city and the Albany Housing Authority would be the developers for the Arbor Hill projects. The Housing Authority last year invested $6 million on North Swan, creating 23 apartments and seven storefronts there.

Link (http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=796274&category=BUSINESS)

[Ex-Ithacan]

A bit of good news for the Albany area (from the Ithaca Journal):


GE to build new battery plant in upstate
The Associated Press • May 12, 2009

NISKAYUNA — General Electric Co. will manufacture advanced batteries for locomotives and heavy equipment at a new plant in upstate New York.

GE Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt and New York Gov. David Paterson say the factory will be built in the Albany area and will create 350 new manufacturing jobs. The sodium batteries will be used in GE’s hybrid locomotive and will be suitable for heavy service vehicles and backup storage.

GE says Tuesday the plant will anchor its new battery business. The move complements its recent $30 million investment in lithium-ion battery manufacturer A123Systems of Fairfield, Conn.

GE did not immediately provide financial details beyond announcing an initial investment of $100 million. The company is applying for federal stimulus dollars.

[JManc]

are they knocking the wellingtwon row buildings down comepletely or are they salvaging the facades? when i walked by it a month ago, it looked like they were being careful what they were demolishing.

[Visiteur]

are they knocking the wellingtwon row buildings down comepletely or are they salvaging the facades? when i walked by it a month ago, it looked like they were being careful what they were demolishing.

As I recall, previous news articles said they would be saving the facades of Wellington Row.

[Lance]

I believe that's correct. Not sure if it's the smartest decision, but that's what we are going to see.

[kznyc2k]

High-end condo project on hold

By CHRIS CHURCHILL, Business writer
First published in print: Tuesday, June 23, 2009

COLONIE -- Two elevator shafts and a concrete foundation.

That's the sum construction total at the Loudon House condominium project, where work began in the fall but stopped abruptly in January. Suffice to say, neighbors in Loudonville were hoping for more from the highly touted project at Route 378 and Schuyler Road.

"There's a great deal of frustration that it hasn't been done yet," said Richard Lesnick, a resident of the Loudonwood East development, which abuts the site. "And it looks like it's going to sit there for awhile."

Loudon House is planned as a $12 million, 22-unit complex targeted at retirees willing to spend between $500,000 and $1 million. Problem is, that type of buyer has largely disappeared during the economic meltdown.

"We would have been very foolish, in this market, to continue construction," said David Hayes, owner of Hayes Development LLC, which is partnering on the project with BCI Construction Inc. "It turned out to be a very wise decision. I don't think we would have sold them."

Hayes stressed that he has not given up on the project, and that he remains enthusiastic about the site, which is near Albany Rural Cemetery and about a mile from Siena College. But he couldn't say when construction will resume.

"We're just focusing on the economy and the housing market," he said. "We're going to monitor that, and when we feel conditions are right, begin construction."

The site is the former home of the Eamonn's Loudon House, a bar destroyed by fire in 2005. The burned-out building sat forlornly for nearly two years before demolition in 2007. "It has been a problem site for quite some time," said Mary Brizzell, a former Colonie town supervisor now active in the Greater Loudonville Association, an advocacy group.

Brizzell and Lesnick both stressed that they're supporters of the three-story project. Designs for the gated development show a white clapboard structure said to be modeled after George Washington's Mount Vernon. "It is delayed," Brizzell said. "But given what's gone on in the economy, that's not a surprise."

Link (http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=812911&category=BUSINESS)

Pictures I took back on February 6:

http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/804/img5803.jpg

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/4335/img5805z.jpg

http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/543/img5802.jpg

[young twig]

This thread needs some revival.

Breaking ground, maybe breaking ice
Joseph's House, neighbors hope project mends fences
http://www.timesunion.com/center/graphics/local0829troy.jpg

TROY -- A nonprofit group that provides shelter for the homeless is ready to break ground on its long-planned apartment building in Troy's Little Italy neighborhood, ending a four-year battle...
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=836230

---

Center land buys grow
Convention authority pays Albany County $453,000 for parcels in downtown Albany

ALBANY -- The Albany Convention Center Authority approved the purchase of nine more parcels Friday as it continues to assemble the land needed for the proposed 266,000-square-foot facility.

The authority will pay Albany County $453,000 for the .39 acres, an area bounded by Hamilton, Green and Division streets that is used as parking lots...
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=835994&category=YTALBANY

---

State seeks cash for rail projects
Second main track between local stations part of $565M request

The state has applied for $565 million in federal stimulus money for local rail projects, a portion of which would pay for a second main track between the Albany-Rensselaer and Schenectady train stations.
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=835014&category=YTTROY

[young twig]

Center Square rowhouse project proposed
ALBANY -- A developer wants to build five rowhouses on a large, vacant lot in Center Square -- a rare proposal for in-fill housing in a Capital Region city.

Under the plan by Crisafulli Associates, the single-family homes would be built along cobblestoned Jay Street, adjacent to the Knickerbocker Apartments. The site is bordered by a wood fence, painted greenish blue. (map (http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=42.653586,-73.764589&spn=0,359.991524&z=17&layer=c&cbll=42.653537,-73.764499&panoid=qJy2Tda16sn_garUdiwJmA&cbp=12,28.48,,0,-4.57))

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=837472&category=YTALBANY

---

Gone in the blink of an eyesore

ALBANY -- Boopsie's garage was finally torn down Tuesday.

Desmond hotels
The former service station and used car lot at the corner of New Scotland Avenue and Whitehall Road, vacant since 1995, has been a neighborhood eyesore for decades.

But now, Capital Region home builder Amedore Homes Inc. intends to turn the property over to the City of Albany for possible use as a park.

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=837475&category=YTALBANY

---

Albany's free wireless Internet system to double

ALBANY -- The city of Albany's free wireless Internet system is going to double in size after the city and a local telecommunications firm received a $625,000 state grant.


Tech Valley Communications, the Albany firm that built what's known as Albany FreeNet, will spend more than $3 million of its own money over the next five years in addition to the grant to build out the network, which offers free Internet access to people with wireless modems on their laptop computers.

And as part of the grant requirements, Tech Valley will lift its one-hour limit on Albany FreeNet, providing unlimited usage to anyone in the city who can obtain the signal.

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=837012&category=YTALBANY

[cwbmet]

The historic Hotel Wellington in downtown Albany should be history by the end of this month.

http://assets.bizjournals.com/story_image/341271-0-0-1.jpg

During the next few weeks, workers using a high-reach excavator stretching more than 150 feet high will claw away at the block-long, narrow brick building between State and Hudson streets, tearing it down in chunks.

The demolition will remove a hotel that has stood downtown since the early 1900s but in more recent years sat empty, a symbol of blight and decay.

It’s one of five buildings that make up Wellington Row on State Street, an area just steps from the state Capitol, whose deterioration has been a source of embarrassment and frustration for city officials for two decades.

The demolition marks the end of a $6 million-plus, yearlong effort by [CompanyWatch allows you to receive email alerts with stories related to your companies of interest. <p>You can watch up to ten companies at a time.</p>] Columbia Development Cos. in Albany to selectively remove portions of Wellington Row and prepare the site for a 405,000-square-foot office, retail, residential and parking complex that blends old with new.

The total estimated project cost, including the demolition, is $65 million.

Joe Nicolla, president of Columbia Development, is negotiating with several lenders to jointly finance construction, which would begin in early 2010 and take two years to finish.

Plans call for a new, 14-story tower anchoring the development, though the size could change.

Nicolla is trying to convince local bankers there’s demand for new Class A office space near the Capitol, even if there’s now excess supply downtown and rent growth is flat.

“Believe it or not, there’s an awful lot of interest from people inside and outside this community to be in this location,” he said.

He predicted some tenants would move from existing offices downtown, but the majority won’t already have a presence in the central business district. He said it’s unlikely the state will be a tenant, given the clampdown on spending.

Even with a big portfolio of successful projects, including office buildings, hospital expansions and hotels, the credit crunch is forcing Columbia to be more creative with its underwriting.

“It’s not like three or four years ago where one bank would say, ‘I’ll do it myself,’ ” Nicolla said. “Now we have to reach out to four or five banks and make sure we have a project that everybody is satisfied with.”

Nicolla himself had to reach consensus about the project after historic preservationists objected to the original designs.

After buying the properties for $925,000 in November 2006, Columbia Development announced plans to save the facades of three of the five buildings, including the former hotel, and tie them into the new office tower.

The [CompanyWatch allows you to receive email alerts with stories related to your companies of interest. <p>You can watch up to ten companies at a time.</p>] Historic Albany Foundation pressed for all of Wellington Row to be preserved, since they are all located in a local historic district and listed on the [CompanyWatch allows you to receive email alerts with stories related to your companies of interest. <p>You can watch up to ten companies at a time.</p>] National Register of Historic Places.

Columbia Development insisted that wasn’t feasible, in part because of the low ceiling heights in the former hotel and the varying floor levels of the adjoining buildings. The two sides compromised, and the city [CompanyWatch allows you to receive email alerts with stories related to your companies of interest. <p>You can watch up to ten companies at a time.</p>] Historic Resources Commission approved the concept.

Susan Holland, executive director of Historic Albany Foundation, has been tracking the work and taking pictures as the structures have been slowly dismantled and removed.

“It looks to me they’re doing exactly as they intended to do and what we agreed on,” Holland said.

Portions of two buildings on both sides of the hotel are being saved and incorporated into the new development.

The facades of 132 and 134 State St. to the east of the Wellington, and the Elks Lodge and Berkshire Hotel to the west, have been preserved. Behind the facades, all but the first 50 feet of each of those buildings has been torn down.

Columbia Development will demolish all of the former hotel except for the decorative limestone facade, which will be taken apart, catalogued and stored. The facade will be reassembled and attached to the front of the new office building.

The selective demolition, handled by Jackson Demolition of Niskayuna, started last year. It has taken six to eight months longer than anticipated and has been costlier than estimated (the removal of asbestos and other hazardous materials is being subsidized by a $2.5 million state grant).

Three factors drove the delay, said Michael Arcangel, project executive for Columbia Development: The amount of asbestos between the walls and floors was substantially more than expected; the structural makeup of each building was radically different because of the number of additions; and excessive rain this summer.

“It was a constant, day-to-day battle,” Arcangel said. “Every day we discovered something.”

mdemasi@bizjournals.com | 518-640-6814

http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2009/09/07/story5.html?b=1252296000^2035121&page=1

[cityguy]

What does this new tower that is replacing the Wellington Hotel look like?

[cwbmet]

http://blog.timesunion.com/realestate/files/2009/10/wellington-plan.JPG

I think that this is the most current rendering out there, possibly the only one. My thoughts on it...well...I guess it could be worse...

[Kurtman]

I've been watching the progress of the various projects along New Scotland Ave, but I haven't heard what is being built in the small lot at the corner of NS and Morris. Does anyone have an idea?

[Ex-Ithacan]

http://blog.timesunion.com/realestate/files/2009/10/wellington-plan.JPG

I think that this is the most current rendering out there, possibly the only one. My thoughts on it...well...I guess it could be worse...

Looks OK to me (if a bit out of scale). Maybe a step in on the sides of the top five floors would have been more pleasing visually. :shrug:

[JayKibs]

I'm pretty sure that is the only rendering, but it was done by the Albany Historic Foundation as far as I know. They presented it to Columbia Development to show that there was an alternative to taking down the existing buildings on Wellington Row.

The big issue now is tenants. Columbia is waiting for tenants to commit to moving into the office space before the tower is built.