Looking northwest, from the corner of Hill Street and Water Avenue, across the nearly 1-acre lot owned by the city of Albany, on Oct. 7, 2025.
A big vacant lot owned by the city of Albany on the Water Avenue rail line will likely stay vacant for the foreseeable future. The city council Wednesday took no action toward disposing of the property or doing anything with it.
The lot’s address is 205 Madison St. N.E. It lies between Hill and Madison streets on the north side of the railroad track and is bordered on the other three sides by the homes of Edgewater Village.
The property had been owned by the BNSF railroad company. The city got BNSF to hand it over as part of the 2013 settlement of a city lawsuit over the franchise for the railroad track on Water Avenue. At the time the city’s CARA urban renewal program was interested in incorporating the lot in development of the area that later became Edgewater Village, but that never happened.
Since 2022, the council has talked at least a couple of times about what if anything to do with the lot. Should it be made available for development, possibly for “affordable housing”?
At a neighborhood meeting last March, people reportedly preferred improving the lot for public parking and other public purposes such as a community garden. “There was limited support at the meeting for more residential uses,” a memo in the council’s Wednesday agenda said.
The city staff had prepared a request for proposals from potential developers. This included various conditions, including one for at least 20 spaces for public parking.
The council talked about it for a while but took no action. There was talk, however, of another community meeting, this time to hear from anyone in town and not just the waterfront neighborhood.
An appraiser estimated in 2022 that the lot was worth $415,000. But in 2024 the Linn County assessor put its real market value at $231,310.
Whatever it is worth, for now the property sits there, growing weeds. (hh)
What are all those houses I see in your photo that are back of the vacant lot next to a bunch of trees? Are they part of Edgewater Village? Refresh our memories, please. Why was the city suing the BNSF railroad? Were they trying to get the railroad to dig up the tracks that go along side their “precious” pink brick road, also known as Water Street?
Hasso: This old world needs a few more vacant lots with weeds. Maybe the city could plant some trees on the lot. Over development and elimination of natural spaces is one of the big reasons we have global warming. Oops, almost forgot. MAGA and Libertarians do not believe there is global warming.
OH NO,,,HASSO, YOU USED THE WORDS GLOBAL WARMING,,,MAGA IN THE SAME SENTENCE….MAKE BOTH SIDES MAD…THEY PREFER CLIMATE CHANGE…OH MY LANTA….
FRR has a point. Our memories aren’t digital files. What was the backstory for the litigation with BNSF Railway?
The backstory is found in this story I published in 2013: https://hh-today.com/albany-news-a-railroad-city-deal/
Thanks, Hasso and Bob Melbo: I read your 2013 blog on the railroad just now. It was about the city getting some money out of the railroad, more or less.
So why not Just make it a relaxing park.
Have a walking path .. flowerbeds of bulbs that will grow during different times of the year. Park benches with natural tree shading maybe some benches in group settings to encourage conversations. Maybe some
Simple water features and drinking fountains. Maybe have some outdoor interactive musical instruments (rain drums) to encourage artists.And lastly maybe Dedicated it to those educators who have made impacts in our community and schools.just a thought
Great idea. Just get the Edgewater Village residents to buy it. The homeless would love it.