Albany ’s new frontier
F you’re looking for reasons to feel bullish about Albany, the Warehouse District isn’t a bad place to start.
ITwo decades ago, the neighborhood north of downtown was a missed opportunity pocked by vacant buildings and empty lots. And while there are still plenty of both, the district’s gradual, largely organic transformation into a mixed-use neighborhood that includes bars, restaurants, apartments and more has been heartening to behold.
On that front, Redburn Development is planning a major redevelopment of the Huck Finn’s Warehouse building on Erie Boulevard that includes beer and coffee businesses and 270 apartments. A few blocks away on Broadway, Rosenblum Development is replacing a parking lot with a building set to include 80 apartments and a restaurant.
The growth is undeniable progress for Albany, promising new residents and tax revenue in a city that needs both. But as the Times Union’s Steve Hughes reports, the changes are also bringing concerns from longtime industrial businesses, including Surpass
Chemical, which wonder if city government remains invested in their future.
“Where’s the balance?” asks Tyler Smith, Surpass’ general manager. “Where is keeping the viability of existing businesses? We don’t see it.”
That’s unfortunate. Industrial businesses, after all, are key to the district’s character, and important sources of tax revenue and jobs. To assure them a continued place requires a delicate balancing act by the city.
On one hand, Albany must encourage continued development of the Warehouse District into a residential neighborhood and entertainment district. That means, for example, calming traffic and installing sidewalks on fast-moving roads such as Erie Boulevard, which, as it exists, hardly qualifies as pedestrian-friendly.
But the city must also protect existing businesses and the jobs they provide. At times, that will likely mean saying no to projects that threaten to put industrial uses into conflict with new arrivals. Not every site is appropriate for housing or restaurants.
Happily, though, the Warehouse
District has abundant empty land and ample room for both growth and coexistence. There is no reason why a wide variety of uses, old and new, can’t be accommodated. Say, wouldn’t a grocery store be a nice fit?
Meanwhile, significant work remains to be done. The Warehouse District, for all its charms, still doesn’t like feel like a cohesive neighborhood, given the gaps created by unused space and decades of decay, and there are obvious places where investment is badly needed.
The massive and long-vacant Central Warehouse, which Redburn and Columbia Development are acquiring from Albany County, is one obvious target. So is the former Argus Press building, a Broadway landmark that has fallen into severe disrepair. Reinventing the two buildings on opposite ends of the district would go a long way toward helping the neighborhood achieve its potential.
But there should be little doubt that the Warehouse District is on an upswing and that the changes are a reason for optimism. An old Albany neighborhood is reinventing itself, providing more proof of the city’s enduring appeal.