Building 5 at the State Office Campus got a big makeover this past year. And from the outside at least, we'd say a successful one. The exterior is now a modern take on the midcentury style of the rest of the campus.
Also: Big windows. And it lights up nicely at night.
(Here's a not-very-good panorama shot of the building front on the Washington Ave side.)
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Comments
Place looks empty. Are people there working at night? Why don't they turn the lights off?!
... said Rebecca on Nov 2, 2015 at 7:49 PM | link
Cleaners work at night.
I'm sure the place takes a long time to clean!
... said Tess on Nov 3, 2015 at 8:18 AM | link
Looks great. #slumminItInRensselaer
... said Must be nice on Nov 3, 2015 at 9:40 AM | link
@Rebecca: The pics are from around 6 pm, and there were definitely people still working in some of the offices. (I kind of wonder if people feel on a display in the building because of the windows.)
... said Greg on Nov 3, 2015 at 10:54 AM | link
It always occurred to me that the State Office Campus be used to create a New Urbanist City Center with offices, stores, and residences. Sort of a self-contained, walkable City-Within-A-City.
It might be a good idea to connect the Harriman City Center with an expansion of the SUNY Albany Campus. A mixture of Students and Urban Workers could be the basis for a vibrant new space with Culture, Arts, Restaurants, Offices, Labs, and other Work Spaces.
It could be developed as mixed use Community, and probably a base for High Tech, Biomed, Media, and other growth sectors. Sort of a self-contained New Urbanist City Center with attractions, museums, theatres, and other destinations. All could be connected to the rest of the City via CDTA and other forms of transport.
What do you think?
... said Dan F. on Nov 3, 2015 at 2:04 PM | link
@Dan F.
There was actually some proposals that came in at the end of Governor Pataki's term, who had established a board to oversee either full or partial privatization of the state campus, and help put it back on the city's tax rolls. There used to be a website associated with it, with some impressive design ideas, however, it seems to have been removed. However, I did find this article (though not too keen on Columbia Developments efforts in Albany--cheap and boring).http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2010/01/25/daily46.html
Unfortunately, Governor Cuomo has seemed to have put these efforts on the back burner for his own efforts, removing the city of Albany's one good chance to get some significant private property on the tax rolls. Rumor had it that Whole Food was looking to develop on the people rich state campus, along with some of the partners involved with the Nano complex, but his administration squashed those efforts so that he could restack the state workforce and consolidate the stat workforce here. More folks working in Albany is a plus in my book, but privatizing the campus, in any capacity, would have been better.
There is so much potential.
... said Rich on Nov 4, 2015 at 5:31 AM | link
Thanks for the response, Rich. Good information. I agree with you. There is so much potential with the Harriman site. I wish the people in charge had more imagination. And initiative. A New Urbanist/City Center approach would be a real benefit to Albany, I think.
... said Dan F. on Nov 4, 2015 at 5:20 PM | link