HASSO HERING

The restored windows line the Ferry Street facade of the St. Francis on Feb. 16, 2026.

The tall windows of the ground floor lobby of the historic St. Francis Hotel in Albany have been restored, or opened up, to their full height.

I noticed the gleaming wall of glass on a bike ride earlier this week. For a month or more, that wall was covered with a two-story shroud, but this week the shroud was gone. It had been moved to the building’s First Avenue side instead.

The former hotel, which county records say was built in 1915, has been undergoing a slow renovation and reconstruction since shortly after Albany real estate magnate Scott Lepman bought it in 2022.

One challenge in the project is what to do about all the upper-story windows with deteriorated wooden sashes in the St. Francis and adjacent Rhodes building, part of the same property.

Last year, Lepman asked to be allowed to replace 95 windows on the upper floors with aluminum-clad windows made by Jeld-Wen. The Albany Landmarks Commission balked at the request. Instead of approving it after a public hearing in October, the commission asked for more information.

Last month, Lepman withdrew his application regarding the windows. (I didn’t see the notice to that effect until Thursday night.)

His letter withdrawing the request offered no explanation. It’s not clear whether he plans to submit another request, or whether his crew decided the old wood windows can be repaired after all, which is what the Landmarks Commission always prefers when faced with applications to use substitute materials on historic buildings.

(City planner Alyssa Schrems told me via email Friday: “They withdrew because they had exhausted all of the extensions we are permitted to give under state law.  Withdrawal of the application does not prevent them from applying again in the future.”)

I’ll try to get more information about that, and when I get it I’ll pass it along.

In the meantime, it’s nice to see the big plate-glass windows on Ferry Street opened up to their full height. The upper part had been covered up during the years when a print shop occupied the ground floor. (hh)

Now the building’s First Avenue side has the shroud that used to cover the Ferry Street side on the left.

Peering through the reopened Ferry Street windows, you can see the mosaic floor of the old St. Francis lobby.

Here’s what that side of the St. Francis looked like in September 2023.