The former St. Francis Hotel, a downtown landmark for more than a century, was mentioned twice at last week’s meeting of the Albany Revitalization Agency. That’s the city council when it acts as the agency governing CARA, the Central Albany Revitalization Area.
A team of consultants led by Walker Macy, a Portland firm, now has the approval of Albany’s urban renewal agency to gather public opinion and then make plans for redeveloping the city’s Willamette Riverfront.
Albany is getting ready to pick a firm of consultants to design a remake of the city’s Willamette riverfront from Washington Street in the west to Main Street in the east.
The Albany City Council thinks the city would benefit from a downtown parking study, and it has commissioned one at a contracted cost of no more than $42,803.
Last October, the Albany City Council authorized the city staff to negotiate to buy the former Wells Fargo Bank branch at First Avenue and Broadalbin Street. On Friday, the city closed on the purchase for $1.5 million.
In case you want to keep track, the anticipated cost of Albany’s downtown streetscape project has topped $10 million. But it’s still under budget, according to the latest update.
A new chapter for the old St. Francis
The city of Albany has finally made public its plan for the old St. Francis hotel building downtown. The plan is to buy the building from the printing company that owns it, and sell it to Marc Manley, who with his wife Anni owns and restored the Flinn Block farther east on First Avenue.
Tags: Albany downtown, ARA, CARA, St. Francis