The Gallery on Holland
Here's a larger version.
A quick update another apartment project in Albany: The rendering above is for "The Gallery on Holland," a 125-unit apartment building planned for 25 Holland Ave (near the intersection with Delaware Ave). The building will be 7-stories and include 160 interior parking spaces.
This project has been in planning for at least a year -- here's some backstory from August 2013 as reported by Jordan Carleo-Evangelist. It's set to replace the 3-story brick apartment/dorm building currently on the site. The project's been held up by a sewer line issue that required acquiring additional property. Last week it got demolition approval from the city planning board, and it needs one more OK from the city Board of Zoning Appeals before moving ahead. [TU]
The company behind it is Richbell Capital (RBC), which also built the Paddocks of Saratoga. RBC managing director William Hoblock said if the BZA approval comes through and everything lines up as now planned, demolition could start this winter, and the project could be completed by 2016.
Apartment boom
There's currently a bit of an apartment boom (if that's the word) in/around Albany:
+ This 25 Holland project is just about a half mile from the Park South mixed-use project that will include more than 265 residential units.
+ On the city's border with Menands is the loft conversion of the old Albany International headquarters (it was also before the planning board last week).
+ Multiple projects downtown -- completed or planned -- like the Monroe.
+ There are new apartments planned for South Allen Street near St. Peter's
+ A range of smaller conversion projects such as 27 Western (completed) and 960 Broadway (planned, it was before the planning board last week).
+ And today JCE reported two projects planning privately-owned student housing (which are apartments, more or less) near UAlbany's uptown campus. [TU]
This fits into what's apparently a national upswing in apartment construction. [Businessweek]
image: Dominick Ranieri Architect
Find It
The Gallery on Holland (planned)
25 Holland Ave
Albany, NY 12202
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Comments
I love this new trend. More apartments means more downtown residents, which means a more interesting downtown.
... said Hock4 on Aug 26, 2014 at 4:39 PM | link
Oh look, its the George R. Vierno Center from Rikers Island. Maybe Richbell Capital should instead concentrate on the Adelphi Hotel in Saratoga where they missed yet another summer trying to cram an authentic Ramada experience into a gem.
... said Big 'Vic' Proton on Aug 26, 2014 at 7:23 PM | link
The same sort of uninspired design that is ruining Saratoga Springs. Very soon those vacant mansions on Holland Ave will be bulldozed & it will become a corridor of crap.
... said Eric Scheirer Stott on Aug 26, 2014 at 10:05 PM | link
Terrible doesn't even begin to describe the atrocities that this company continues to foist on our community.
Here they have the opportunity to make something that could be innovative and admirable and instead, because of their lack of culture and design experience, they continue to produce monumental heaps of mediocrity.
Here are some examples of great apartment building designs:
http://www.fastcoexist.com/3029434/the-top-10-most-innovative-sustainable-buildings-of-2014#12
See the difference?
... said J on Aug 27, 2014 at 9:24 AM | link
I think this is great. It's much better than what's currently there - an invisible 1940s-1950s building. More people in the neighborhood also means more amenities. I know it's not some cutting edge building, but really, aside from Berlin and London, cutting edge buildings either do not exist or they're for millionaires and billionaires.
... said Paul on Aug 27, 2014 at 12:19 PM | link
The comments on AOA are quickly going the way of the TU's and its thanks to a few ridiculous whiners. Little-or-no surface parking, integrated parking spaces for all tenants (which are even designed to not look like a garage), attractive design with multiple surface treatments and roof heights (aka: not a box). You should be praising RBC.
J- notice that none of the buildings on your list are apartment building designs (arguably the homeless shelter is the exception). They are corporate offices, government buildings, universities. Show me who in Albany will afford/want to rent the units in a LEED-Platinum certified, super-modern designed apartment building. This building is perfectly suitable for the area.
... said Another Paul on Aug 27, 2014 at 1:19 PM | link
While the design is less than aspiring and what looks slightly appealing on paper never translates that way in real life (we now have numerous examples in the capital region to refer to, as other commenters have point), it is at least a step up for this underutilized corner of the city. This place is well suited for more dense building and conveniently located to the University Heights/AMC corridor, the growing and bustling Delaware Ave. strip, the Lark Street BID, and a miles walk from down town. Additionally, wonderful transit oriented development could be fostered here, with the CDTA 18 and 100 prime for moving people to many of the bigger transit hubs. I only hope that public transit is reinforced and that the city isn’t begged to help offer tax inducements for a project that will incorporate significant parking infrastructure. Many cities big and small have moved away from requiring unnecessary parking minimums (with some even encouraging incentives for limited to zero parking). This corridor is already overtaxed with vehicular traffic and unfortunately the corridor’s stakeholders (here’s looking at you AMC) and the city have doubled down on cheap, unnecessary parking in the Park South redevelopment project, despite a recent study demonstrating the demand not being there presently for it and alternative traffic management solutions being able to buy down future demand (i.e. better use of transit options, co-shared parking infrastructure, etc.).
While beggars can’t be choosers, for Albany has a lot of structural issues that make development complicated and expensive, I think the recent developments of the past 5-8 years has demonstrated that there is a willingness by developers to look at the city as a viable market (given trends by millennials and the downsizing baby boomers for walkable communities and smaller living accommodations) and therefore, the IDA and like institutions should start to set the stage for decreasing such large tax exemptions and instead offer tax incentives that encourage sustainable development, green building design, transit orientated development, etc.
... said Rich on Aug 27, 2014 at 2:27 PM | link
The design may not be amazing, but it is a hell of a lot better than the garbage being built by Columbia/BBL all over the city. All they seem to be able to build are tan/brick rectangular boxes with no ornamentation, surrounded by parking.
... said Kman on Aug 27, 2014 at 2:45 PM | link
a step in the right direction. I'm curious to see how they manage the stormwater on that site...
... said daleyplanit on Aug 29, 2014 at 9:26 AM | link