Gawking at the renovation of the long-vacant buildings on Broadway in Albany near the railroad overpass
The renovation of the buildings at 800-806 Broadway in Albany -- a strip of four buildings just south of the railroad overpass between downtown and the Warehouse District -- is now complete and ribbon cutting-official as of this past Friday.
The long-vacant buildings -- which were gutted and renovated -- now contain 15 apartments.
Here's a look around, along with a few bits -- including one about the nearby Church of the Holy Innocents.
Photos
They're at the top in large format -- click or scroll all the way up.
Basics
+ The four buildings now include 15 apartments -- eight 1BR and seven 2BR.
+ Rents range $1,200-$1,700.
+ Developer Patrick Chiou said the total project cost was close to $2 million. Of that, $1.53 million was financed by a loan from the Community Preservation Corporation, "a nonprofit affordable housing and community revitalization finance company." The financing, in turn, is backed by funding provided to CPC by the state pension fund. The project is also in line for state and federal historic tax credits.
+ Chiou said all of the units have already been rented, about half were already occupied as of this Friday, and the rest were set for move-ins soon.
+ The four buildings had been vacant for about a decade.
Why this project?
Patrick Chiou
Patrick Chiou is a UAlbany grad from the New York City area. His first project in Albany was on Beaver Street right next to the Times Union Center, and he said he'd been intrigued by the Warehouse District.
"This project, when I saw it, I was like, hey, it's a good connector between downtown Albany and the Warehouse District," he said. "[The rehab project] was very scary coming into it, but I saw the light at the end of the tunnel and I could the finished project in my head."
Chiou said he likes the direction the city is heading, sees a bright future, and is planning more projects in the city.
The Church of the Holy Innocents
Among the properties in Chiou's portfolio is the former Church of the Holy Innocents on Pearl Street just around the corner these rehabbed apartments. (It's the rundown church right across Pearl from the Ida Yarbrough Homes.)
Chiou said he's looking to convert the building to a coffee shop/juice bar with work/study space. He said the project has an application for funding in with New York State Homes and Community Renewal, and target date for getting underway is contingent on that application.
More apartments
The redevelopment of 800-806 Broadway is notable for another reason beyond its status as a long-vacant property in a high-traffic spot: It pushes downtown Albany over the 500 unit mark for new, completed apartments, according to Capitalize Albany.
And there are more apartments on the way in this corridor between downtown Albany and the Warehouse District at the foot of Arbor Hill, which already included the 2015 residential conversion of 733 Broadway. Just down the street at 760 Broadway an under-construction building will have 88 units. And the proposed Quackenbush Center mixed-use project a little closer to downtown proper -- the site is the big hole in the ground near Quackenbush Square -- also includes apartments. that project is in re-design because of construction costs.
Earlier
+ Apartments, apartments, and more apartments
+ Maybe all those new apartments are starting to have some effect on rents
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Comments
What an improvement! The apartments look beautiful, and the fact that they were all rented by the completion date (at pretty high rents), should quiet any downtown development doubters.
All that's needed to make it truly complete is a giant mural to cover the blue scribble on the north-side of the project. :)
... said Paul on Jul 17, 2018 at 12:21 PM | link
They look great, but "affordable"?
... said thischickwins on Jul 18, 2018 at 12:51 PM | link
@thischickwins I had the same thought. This is certainly not affordable housing. Perhaps they qualified for that funding under the "and community revitalization" side, not the "affordable housing" side.
... said EMB on Jul 18, 2018 at 1:26 PM | link
The buildings may have been vacant for a decade, but I'm sure they were in rough shape long before that. I thought I had a photo of what they looked like in the '80s; it turned out my photo was of the buildings directly across the street. Maybe the developer can renovate those next.
... said Ellen on Jul 27, 2018 at 5:27 PM | link
Take away the fancy furnishings and the rooms look a bit more affordable- that refrigerator may be stainless steel but it is sitting in the living room. The bathroom has some lux finishes but it is also tight
... said Eric Scheirer Stott on Jul 30, 2018 at 5:59 AM | link