TROY FOR RENT
Prospective renters, business owners tour available sites
The Collar City downtown made its annual springtime effort to show off its available rental space within the district this week at the 2016 For Rent Event.
Hosted by the Downtown Troy Business Improvement District, the For Rent Event is designed to bring potential tenants into rentable commercial and retail properties within downtown Troy.
This year the Tuesday morning walking tour had eight stops as well as several walk-throughs. A group of about 20 people visited spaces including the Quackenbush Building, the Proctor’s Building, City Station, the former Record newspaper building and the soon-to-be Troy Innovation Garage.
Along the way P. Thomas Caroll of the Burden Ironworks Museum informed event-goers of the downtown district’s rich history, including many interesting tidbits about the specific rental properties.
The vacant spaces ranges in size, price, age and readiness to accommodate tenants. Likewise, each person on the tour was searching for something a little different. Downtown resident and party planner Tara Allen, owner of Bash Birthday Parties, attended the tour seeking a commercial space where clients could throw their parties. Allen currently has a small office on River Street and organizes off-site parties, but would like to expand her business by offering a place to host events.
“I’m just looking for a bigger space essentially,” she said. An important amenity Allen would like to come with her future rental space is on-site
parking, which only a few of the units on the For Rent Event offered.
Another entrepreneur, David Langer of Troy Shirt Co., hopes to soon move his small business out of his home and into a commercial setting in downtown Troy that could house both production and retail. Langer is very actively trying to find a space for his merchandise printing company and hopes to sign a lease quite soon.
“Sometime between June and August our plan would be to get into a place, renovate it, and hopefully launch in September,” Langer said. “Hopefully I’m going to figure out what I’m doing in the next two to three weeks.” Langer said he saw a couple spaces he liked on the tour, but some of them were more expensive than what he had in mind for his business.
A full list of properties is available at the Downtown Troy Business Improvement District office, located at 251 River St. in downtown Troy. It will also soon be available at www.downtowntroy.org.