Downtown Development Authority, city of Albany reach agreement on old Water, Gas and Light building
Albany officials want to clean up and redevelop the former Water, Gas and Light building on Pine Avenue
By Terry Lewis
ALBANY — The Downtown Development Authority approved on Tuesday a memorandum of understanding with the city of Albany to clean up the old Water, Gas and Light building after an ongoing $350,000 environmental assessment of the property at 207 Pine Ave. is complete.
The goal is to form a redevelopment plan to be prepared by the DDA with input and approval from the city, which will transfer the title to the DDA subject to retained rights.
Once the environmental assessment is complete, the DDA would then file for a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to clean up the site. The city’s data center is located in the building.
“Today our Downtown Development Authority approved the transfer from the city to the authority for the purposes of downtown development,” DDA Interim Manager Jackie Teemer said. “When the city moved out of the building one of our major focuses was on redevelopment. There is a lot of potential for that building. It could be used as mixed-use residential, it could also provide office space.
“The main thing I think is the building needs to serve a purpose.”
Teemer added the EPA grant is crucial to moving forward with the project.
“We want to apply for that grant,” she said. “We are fairly certain there are contaminants on that property just as there are contaminants on a lot of older properties in downtown Albany. The purpose of that grant is to use those dollars is to clean up contaminants in that building and to make it desirable place for a developer to come in and hit the ground running and clean up the property.
“While we don’t have a developer yet, we have possibilities.”
Teemer said part of the testing assessment is on groundwater sampling, as well as testing for asbestos and other possible contaminants.
The special called meeting was Teemer’s last as the interim downtown manager. Lequrica Gaskins begins her new position as the city’s new downtown manager today.
“I’m excited about the new downtown manager,” Teemer said. “I will still be working at the downtown office, but I think (Gaskins) is going to bring some new ideas to the table that downtown really needs.”
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