The former Wells Fargo bank in downtown Albany is to be demolished and the site offered for sale to a developer who would build apartments.
It’s hard to imagine now what the old Oregon Electric Railway depot in Albany will be like once it has been fully restored and Sybaris Bistro has moved in. But Matt Bennett can imagine it very well, and he explained his ideas to me this week.
Where Albany downtown building revival projects are concerned, everything seems to take longer than expected. That includes the much-anticipated sale and restoration of the historic Oregon Electric Railway depot on Fifth Avenue.
Albany is plowing ahead with its $16.2 million project to upgrade the Willamette riverfront, but it’s not a unanimous decision.
Albany’s long-planned Waterfront Project comes up for a public hearing next week, not on the merits of the project itself but on the method of getting it built.
Another page is about to be turned in the continuing story of changes in Albany’s downtown. Pride Printing has occupied the ground floor of the former St. Francis Hotel for about 50 years, and now the business leaving.
On the riverfront: What kind of development?
With nothing more urgent on my plate, I stopped on the Albany riverfront Tuesday evening to look around. What I saw was nothing sensational or new, but it prompted me to say:
Tags: Albany Waterfront Project, CARA, riverfront, riverfront development, urban renewal, Willamette River