All Over Albany

A look inside 2 Judson Street

We got a chance this week to stop by the open house for 2 Judson Street, one of the properties that's for sale as part of the Albany County Land Bank's Neighbors for Neighborhoods program (a few details about that program below).

There are handful of photos to go along with this post, in case you'd like to gawk. Because, you know, we definitely wanted to gawk.

The property is part of the McPherson Terrace row on Clinton Ave in West Hill, a string of buildings (not all have survived) that date to the late 1880s/early 1890s. And they're related to Albany architectural royalty: The great Albany architect Edward Ogden participated in developing the strip. (Ogden and his son Charles, also an architect, designed a bunch of beautiful buildings around the city.)

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Approval to convert two prominent downtown buildings, a warm response to increased density, and more exciting tales of the Albany Planning Board

This block is in line to get new life.

Exciting Tales of the Albany Planning Board is a program recorded before a live studio audience once a month in which the fates of multi-million dollar projects around the city are (partially) decided.

This month: Approval for residential conversion of two notable downtown buildings, a historic parking garage, that big residential/retail project across from St. Peter's, stormwater concerns, an addition to the Lionheart, a practice gym, and that enormous Kenwood project...

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An update on that big project near Quackenbush Square (the one that's currently a big hole in the ground)

How the site looked on Friday.

At the beginning of this year the big mixed-use development proposed for the site just north of Quackenbush Square on Broadway in downtown Albany got approval from the city's planning board and the development company behind the project was looking to get started with construction soon after.

Then in May word surfaced that the project had gotten stuck on higher-than-expected construction cost estimates. And now, 11 months later, there's still just a giant hole in the ground. [Biz Review]

But the development company said this week it's reformulated the plan and it's hoping to get started next year.

Here are a few more bits about what's up for the project, which has the potential to significantly remake that section of Broadway.

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Here's the new concept plan for 1 Monument Square in downtown Troy

There's a new plan for 1 Monument Square -- and a long way still to go.

That's the big takeaway from Monday's meeting in which the city of Troy and its consultants showed off concept plan for the redevelopment of Monument Square that's centered on a large public plaza.

The new plan is the product of a public input process pursued this year in an attempt to create a solid consensus about what to do with the site -- at the heart of downtown Troy -- and then pursue developers interested in following that vision.

"Don't get too hung up on the particulars of the design, it's meant to illustrate proportions more than a specific design or specific building materials," mayor Patrick Madden told a packed crowd at the Arts Center of the Capital Region. "And don't get too wigged out at this point about the challenges -- not yet, anyway."

Let's a have a look at some renderings and a few of those challenges...

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There's a new, bigger proposal for residential + retail development on New Scotland Ave across from St. Peter's Hospital

A rendering of the building that would stand at New Scotland and South Allen in the new proposal.

There's proposal for a new residential/retail development across from St. Peter's Hospital on New Scotland Ave is back -- bigger, this time, and will a new developer.

In planning docs filed with the city of Albany, the Jankow Companies is proposing to demolish seven structures on the site to make way for four new buildings that would include 188 apartments along with more than 13,000 square feet of retail.

You might remember a somewhat similar proposal -- "New Scotland Village" -- came up late last year under a different developer. It prompted a strong negative response from neighbors, and the planning board was less than impressed with that design.

This new proposal is one of 14 projects on the tentative agenda for the November 15 Albany planning board meeting -- there's a workshop meeting about the agenda, open to the public, tonight (Monday, November 5) at 5:45 pm at the 200 Henry Johnson building.

That tentative agenda includes a bunch of high-profile and/or controversial projects. So here's a quick overview of the new New Scotland Ave proposal, and a few bits about the rest of the projects.

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The saga of the Western Ave apartment project and more exciting tales of the Albany Planning Board

One of the latest renderings for the proposed 1211 Western Ave apartment project.

Exciting Tales of the Albany Planning Board is a program recorded before a live studio audience once a month in which the fates of multi-million dollar projects around the city are (partially) decided.

This month: The ongoing fight over a big apartment project on Western Ave, a place for school buses, a gym plan delayed, and the conversion of a tiny church...

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A walkthrough of the old Kenmore Hotel and Steuben Club buildings in downtown Albany

The old Kenmore Hotel and Steuben Club buildings landmark buildings on one of downtown Albany's most prominent blocks. They've also sat largely vacant for years.

That could be changing, though. Both buildings are at the center of a huge in-progress real estate deal. Redburn Development Partners is currently working to close the purchase of the Kenmore Hotel and Steuben Club buildings -- along with a handful of other notable downtown properties -- and redevelop them with residential and retail uses. (See recent planning board discussion about the Kenmore and Steuben as well as the old Times Union building on Sheridan Ave.)

We've passed these buildings hundreds -- maybe thousands -- of times. They're anchors of downtown Albany -- but we had very little sense of what they're actually like on the inside. And we were curious about that, especially now that the buildings could be on the verge of their next lives. We figured you might, too

So we got Redburn to give us a tour. Here are a bunch of photos...

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The old riverfront and the old bridge

Random historical photo we stumbled across while looking for something else: This aerial photo of the Albany riverfront is from 1969 and shows the old Dunn Memorial Bridge as the new (that is, current) Dunn is being constructed just up river. It's from the local history rabbit hole that is the Albany Group Archive on Flickr.

Two things about this photo:

1. There is an ongoing conversation about how Albany can make its riverfront more accessible and hospitable to people. And one of the things that often gets lost in that discussion is that Albany riverfront has really been a place for people in a very long time. Like, a century or more. That's not say it shouldn't be in the future -- it just provides some context for the challenge.

2. The old Dunn Memorial Bridge had a section that lifted to make way for passing ships, sort of like the Green Island Bridge does today. That allowed the bridge to be closer to the water, and as a result, its connections on either end were much closer to street level. See the photo below -- also from the Albany Group Archive.

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It was his idea to put Nipper up there

Longtime Albany architect Harris Sanders died this week at age 91. He designed a bunch of buildings around the area -- you've probably been in a few of them.

But his most notable local work is the landmark statue of Nipper that stands atop a building in the Warehouse District. That was his idea, a way of drawing attention to appliance distributor that occupied the building and carried RCA products during the 1950s.

As Sanders told Spectrum's Mike Allen for a nice first-person video piece last year:

We had an office, about 10 people. But no one got any publicity. You put up a 25-foot-high dog and I'm getting people form California calling me. ...

There were going to put it right next to the entrance door. That little four-foot dog they had would be lost on Broadway. They wouldn't even see it. So I said, if you want it visible, you gotta put it on the roof. So I figured 25 feet with a 12-foot base would be very visible. And it is.

In a Sanders profile written by Joseph Dalton for the Times Union four years ago, the architect explained how he was inspired by the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, and you can see that influence in some of his buildings around this area.

The Sanders architecture firm continues to this day. And his son, Daniel Sanders, frequently works on local projects.

There are a bunch of chances to see the inside of the beautiful State Education Building this fall

Also: The State Education Building has the habit of catching some excellent late day sun during September.

A new season of tours at the State Education Building in Albany started up this month, and continues on Saturdays through December. The building -- it's the one with the columns across from the Capitol -- is beautiful and very much worth a look.

Blurbage:

The 45-minute Education Building tour will be led by New York State Museum staff and visitors will have the opportunity to explore the historic Chancellors Hall, Regents Room and the Rotunda adorned with murals by Albany native Will H. Low.

The tours are at 12:30 pm and 2:30 pm on Saturdays, and they're limited to 25 people. They're also free, but you must pre-register.

These tours hadn't been regularly offered for many years until they started up again during the last year or two. And they've been popular. But taking a look at the registration page, it looks like there are plenty of spots available for this fall (for the moment), including a handful this weekend.

A row of buildings gone, except for one

A follow up of sorts about the old, beautiful Mechanics and Farmers Bank building at the corner of State and James in downtown Albany and it's now missing architectural neighbors.

The image above is from a 1918 history of State Street published by the National Savings Bank of Albany (it was the bank's 50th anniversary). The viewpoint is from Pearl Street. And, as you can see, those whole two blocks of State Street are very different now. (Current street view.) But the Mechanics and Farmers is still there.

There's a bonus image below showing the opposite side of State Street.

Albany's old and its streets have changed -- many times.

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A downtown corner in context

Albany is an old city, and it has a lot of old buildings. For all sorts of reasons, many of these old buildings are missing their architectural neighbors. And the resulting effect is that sometimes buildings appear like a fragment of conversation heard without context.

The old Mechanics and Farmers Bank building at the corner of State and James in downtown Albany is a prime example. It's a beautiful old building. It also looks odd, standing there all skinny and by itself. (Here's a thing we wrote about the history of the building.)

But it only looks like that way because the buildings around it are missing. And that's why we were delighted to see the above illustration today.

It's from the 1884 The History of The City of Albany, New York by Arthur James Weise. Credit to Albany Archives for surfacing it today on Twitter. (Matt has a "Lincoln in Albany" walking tour downtown this Thursday, by the way.)

From the illustration you can see how the building, designed by Russell Sturgis, once served as the corner piece of two intersecting rows of downtown buildings. It still stands out as a beauty, but it makes a more sense.

Oh, and here's the snippet from Weise about the founding of the bank...

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Here's why a helicopter will be lifting equipment to the roof of the Corning Tower this weekend

A handful of roads will be closed near the southeastern end of the Empire State Plaza this Sunday because crews will be using a helicopter to lift materials to the top of the Corning Tower. (The road closures list is below.)

The crews will be moving equipment for a new maintenance rig for the Corning Tower. Joseph Brill, a spokesman for the state Office of General of Services, said the process is planned to include a series of nine lifts, starting at approximately 9 am, which will include more than 11 tons of equipment. The schedule is dependent on the weather.

Why the need for the equipment? Well, in short, it makes it possible to maintain the exterior of the 42-floor building. As Brill explained in an email:

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Bright

Totally had to stop and snap a pic of these brightly-painted row houses on Elk Street in Albany this week. Very sharp.

Have a good weekend.

Frederick Hinckel and the Hinckel Brewery

The Hinckel Brewery building with the Empire State Plaza in the background. / photo: Tim Jackson

On the northwest corner of Park Avenue and South Swan Street in Albany's Hudson/Park neighborhood, a multi-building complex takes up almost half a city block and dominates the immediate area. Constructed in the late 1880s, this behemoth played a vital role in the brewing and distribution of beer across the city and the country.

This is the story of immigrant, brewmaster, and former Albany resident Frederick Hinckel -- and the Hinckel Brewery.

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One corner, many different buildings

Looking up State Street to Pearl Street in (we're guessing) the 1920s. That's the old Ten Eyck Hotel on the northwest corner. / photo via Albany Public Library History Collection

The northwest corner of State and Pearl in downtown Albany is one of the city's most prominent and historic spots. And as Mike DeMasi reported this week, SUNY is buying the office/bank building there. [Biz Review]

The 1970s-era building that's currently on the site is an odd fit -- its size, its style, the way it sits on such a busy corner but is largely closed off to the sidewalk. It sticks out even even more when you view the building in the historical context of what's stood there before.

So, let's take a quick look at that...

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That proposal for a big residential project on Western Ave in Albany has resurfaced

A new rendering for the project.

There's been a small boom in apartment building construction over the last few years in Albany, and officials have hailed it for bringing new development, residents, and housing options to the city.

But as these projects have spread into the lower-density neighborhoods of the city, they've also gotten pushback from residents who say the scale doesn't fit.

The project that prompted maybe the strongest neighborhood criticism has been the proposal for a six-story private dorm at 1211 Western Ave, near the edge of the UAlbany uptown campus. The response was negative enough that mayor Kathy Sheehan made the unusual move of asking the planning board to not approve the proposal in its then-current form -- and the developers pulled the project.

Now it's back, reformulated. And there's still skepticism.

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A look around The News, the latest large residential project in Troy

The last few years have seen a small boom in residential projects in the downtowns of the Capital Region's core cities.

And the latest project to open is The News. It's a 101-unit redevelopment/new construction project by the Rosenblum Companies at the site of the former Troy Record building in downtown Troy. Tenants started moving in at the start of this month.

Here's a look around the place, along with a conversation with Rosenblum's Jeff Mirel about Troy and building new residential in urban neighborhoods.

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Today's moment of fenestration

Walking up State Street today near Pearl Street. There's a spot where the view of the window grid on the building there just... well, it gets kind of trippy.

Earlier:
+ Today's moment of fenestration and reflection
+ The afternoon September sun

GE Realty Plot walking tours

Nobel Prize winner Irving Langmuir lived in this home on Stratford Road in the plot. / photo: Wikipedia user Daniel Case (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Schenectady city historian Chris Leonard is leading a walking tour of the GE Realty Plot neighborhood May 19. Blurbage:

Leonard will cover the dynamic events and unique cast of characters who have called "The Plot" their home. The tour includes stories and anecdotes about GE inventors and executives, Schenectady business and political leaders, entertainers, and incomparable individuals, as well as the formation of The Plot and ongoing efforts to protect these stately homes. Some of the many luminaries covered include Charles P. Steinmetz, Irving Langmuir, Izetta Jewel Miller and Ernst Alexanderson.

The GE Realty Plot sits just to the east of Union College. The college sold the land at the beginning of the 20th century to General Electric (it was trying to pay off some debt) and the company developed the plot for homes for its executives and researchers. It's a beautiful, walkable neighborhood.

The walking tour is the morning of Saturday, May 19. Tickets are $20 -- "which includes entry into one of the homes, and a 15-minute break with snacks on its large front porch" -- and available online.

By the way: It looks like this tour will be offered each month through October.

One last look inside the Playdium

The Playdium is, as you've no doubt heard, set to be demolished this year and there's an apartment development planned for the site.

This Saturday, April 14, the contents of the old bowling alley on Ontario Street in Albany will be auctioned on site starting at 11 am. Everything will be up for sale except for the bowling lanes and bowling balls. (Sales are cash only.)

In a sense, these are the last few moments of the Playdium. After this weekend, stripped of its parts, it'll just be more or less another building. And then it will be gone.

So we stopped by Friday to get a last look and snap a few photos.

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Hooks, bells, ticker tape machines, and fires -- the story of 25 Delaware Ave

Somewhere in the basement of a two-story building in the city of Albany, an electrical wire short circuits. This causes sparks to ignite, leading to a small fire. Within a few minutes, smoke billows out from the windows as the fire engulfs the building. Someone calls the fire department.

As onlookers begin to gather outside the blaze wondering what, if anything, they can do, in the distance the sound of emergency sirens can be heard, getting louder as it draws closer to the scene of the fire. An Albany Fire Department fire truck pulls up to the building, firefighters quickly work to extinguish the fire, as well as rescue anyone who might be trapped inside.

This scenario has played out countless times in the long history of the Albany Fire Department. And for almost half a century, those calls for service came in through a system of telegraphs, hooks, call boxes, and ticker tape -- into a small building at 25 Delaware Ave.

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At the corner of style

The building that currently stands at 67 North Pearl Street in downtown Albany is just about the most plain structure along that entire stretch. So this photo from the Albany Public Library History Collection -- of the same spot and a rather much more stylish building (in 1930something?) -- caught our eye. (Here's a slightly different angle.)

A.S. Beck was a shoe store chain that started in Brooklyn in the 1910s. By 1950 the spot was a new, expanded location for the W.T. Grant department store. That Grant store apparently was quite the success for a while.

By the way: The photo above also provides a glimpse of Steuben Street as an actual street.

Reclaimed and unbridged

The photo illustration above of the Green Island Bridge is the latest in local photographer John Bulmer's "Reclaimed" series, which imagines landmarks in a state of post-human abandonment.

He talked with Lauren a few years back about the inspiration for the series and how he creates the photo illustrations.

Bulmer is a professional photographer. In addition to works such as the "Reclaimed" series or this many-sunsets composite of the Albany skyline he also frequently posts beautiful weather and architectural shots on Twitter.

The Elouise and milk bottles

The Elouise is at the corner of South Lake and Western / photo: Tim Jackson

At South Lake Avenue and Western Avenue in Albany stands an eight-story building. Built in the late 1920s in the Classical Revival style, it's a landmark of the Pine Hills neighborhood, surpassed in height only by the Royce on the Park apartment building on nearby Hudson Avenue.

Outside the building a bronze plaque that greets all who enter simply reads: "Elouise Apartments 11 So. Lake Ave."

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