The Schultz Building at 212 First Ave. S.E. has seen various uses since being built in 1910. Now it may become a restaurant, according to a grant request being considered by the Albany urban renewal district.
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.
The city of Independence wanted a riverside hotel and now it’s getting one. To learn how the town of 10,000 did it, I took the 20-minute drive there from Albany on Monday.
Imagine the plight of a streetscape designer who’s supposed to place a few benches on the newly rebuilt sidewalks of Albany’s downtown. How to position this street furniture so it is inviting and does future bench sitters some good?
CARA is being asked to give $10,000 to another downtown Albany building venture, but the push for major projects to complete and then wind up the 17-year-old urban renewal program seems to remain stalled.
Unless you live there, you probably avoid Albany’s Fifth Avenue east of Lyon Street because of of its rough pavement. Camera in hand, I took a ride there Friday to illustrate just how bumpy the surface is.
CARA still coy about Fargo offers, but …
Albany’s urban renewal agency continues to be shy about naming the parties that offered to acquire the former Wells Fargo branch in the heart of downtown. But it plans to decide on selling the building to one of them the next time the CARA advisory board meets, which is June 19.
Tags: Albany downtown, CARA, property deals, urban renewal, Wells Fargo