Project builder looking for aid
Developer has plans for Albany’s Clinton Avenue
The Rochester-based developer that snapped up 70 townhouses along Clinton Avenue for renovation is looking for financial assistance for a $24 million second phase of the project.
Home Leasing LLC is proposing to redevelop five properties and build a 50,000-square foot, three-story, mixeduse building that would include additional space for an existing incubator for minority and women-owned business. A public hearing for the project was to be held by the Albany Industrial Development Agency on Wednesday night.
Adam Driscoll, a representative from Home Leasing, said the project could close and begin construction in November if it receives the requested financial assistance from the city and state.
The six sites, scattered along Clinton Avenue, include 163 Clinton Ave., a historic former schoolhouse and church. The renovations would result in 61 new units; 12 in four townhouses, 13 inside 163 Clinton Ave., and 36 newly built units. The apartments would be rented to qualified residents who make up to 80 percent of the area’s median income.
The incubator would be an expansion of the Albany Center for Economic Success, a subsidiary of the Community Loan Fund of the Capital Region, currently located on Orange Street. The project plans for three storefronts on Clinton Avenue.
The project would create roughly 150 temporary construction jobs. The developers also estimate that within several years, the incubator would support up to 17 full-time jobs.
“Through the partnership with ACES,
this Phase II directly serves primary goals identified in the City’s Comprehensive Plan to increase employment opportunities at all education and skill levels as well as spur additional investments,” the company wrote in its application to the Albany IDA.
The company is asking for two separate payment in lieu of taxes agreements to help finance the project, as well as sales tax exemptions.
The first one would be a 30-year agreement for the residential spaces. The second would be a 15-year agreement for the commercial space.
In addition to the two requested PILOT agreements, the developer will be using historic tax credits to finance the project. It also relies on a application for a $4.5 million award from the state Community and Homes Renewal, $1.5 million from Empire State Development and a $500,000 HOMES grant from the city of Albany.