Downtown Albany may become brighter during winter nights — or as soon as a new lighting program can be started. But unfortunately, it will be a change limited to just a short stretch of First Avenue. And that brings up an old complaint that has been all but forgotten.
When Albany voters decide on a bond for new police and fire stations in November, they can be sure that approval of the bond will not benefit the downtown urban renewal district, CARA. Why would it, you might reasonably ask, even though we’ve covered this subject before. Well, money to repay the $20.3 million bond […]
The Albany city staff is following through on a pledge made by Wes Hare, the city manager, in connection with the scheduled Nov. 5 bond election for a new police station and main fire hall. Before the city council put that $20.3 million bond on the ballot, Hare said he would recommend that approval of […]
An Albany bond issue to pay for new police and fire stations should pass because those facilities are needed. But its passage will be made easier if the council makes sure the issue is not needlessly complicated by urban renewal. To be clear, if voters approve a general obligation bond issue of $20.3 million, as […]
Albany’s downtown urban renewal program is about to restart with a sharper focus on encouraging job creation and increasing the taxable value of the revitalization district known as CARA. For the past year, the program has been on hold while urban renewal manager Kate Porsche led the 14-member CARA advisory committee in monthly discussions of […]
The Oregon House today (May 28) is scheduled to vote on a sensible bill to correct an injustice dealing with property taxes and urban renewal, but it won’t do any good in Albany, at least not yet. The bill is HB 2632-A. It would remove local option levies approved by voters after January 1, 2013, […]
Albany news: Woodland Square gets boost
Big news for an Albany neighborhood: Woodland Square, an urban renewal project supported by CARA, has won state approval of the tax credits it needed to go ahead. The project will replace the trailer park at Salem Avenue and Pine Street with a 54-unit apartment complex. Construction is expected to start in June 2014, the […]
Tags: Albany urban renewal, CARA, Innovative Housing Inc., Woodland Square