EDITORIAL: Herald property purchase strategic move for city

While we at The Albany Herald are, like all humans, prone to nostalgia, we applaud the city of Albany’s decision to purchase the property that has become a signature part of Albany’s downtown as the home for the last three decades-plus of this newspaper.

Yes, we felt it a prudent business decision to market the property, given its historic value and the fact that the production of the community’s newspaper simply does not require the personnel that it once did.

Consider that production and printing of the paper had long been carried out on The Herald’s premises and that many jobs that were once essential were rendered obsolete by technology — plus the fact that there was another bustling business on the third floor of this facility that has since moved to metro Atlanta — and it’s easy to see that there was too much unused space in the old Rosenberg’s Building and surrounding properties that were part of the sale to the city.

But looking beyond the business of the newspaper, this location sits at ground zero of the suddenly bustling downtown renovation that’s going on. With the recent announcement that developer Jason Benedict will bring a $13.5 million boutique hotel, complete with a state-of-the-art data center and a rooftop restaurant, to 207 Pine Ave. — directly across the street from the Rosenberg’s Building — it’s easy to see the strategic importance of the purchase by the city.

While rumors that the city expected to facilitate a move of the Albany Museum of Art to the 126 N. Washington St. property seem to have dried up, with both City Manager Sharon Subadan and Mayor Dorothy Hubbard discounting such a notion on Friday, the prevailing discussion now includes location of another mixed-use development similar to the one at 207 Pine.

And then there’s the parking lot.

There has been no shortage of individuals who have reportedly sought the strategic Herald parking lot at the northeast corner of Pine Avenue and Washington Street.

It’s already being utilized by the Pretoria Fields Brewery when that establishment hosts one of its many overflow events, and the lot is always jam-packed for special downtown events like the annual Christmas Parade and Street Festival held in conjunction with the Snickers Marathon.

Subadan acknowledged the importance of the lot when she said Friday after the Albany City Commission approved the purchase of the property with a 6-0 vote, “As Albany’s downtown continues to grow, parking will become a premium.”

Subadan also made it clear that, while The Herald will maintain a presence in the property for the time being, the city will move quickly to market the newly acquired property.

She told Ward I Commissioner Jon Howard that she didn’t expect the property to be off the city’s tax rolls for an extended period.

Pace Burt’s Flats at 249 development has already shown that the residential element of downtown living is viable, and the Hilton Garden Inn downtown is one of the city’s most visited hotel/motels. With the Singfield family’s The Flint restaurant nearing completion and other downtown moves rumored to be in the works, the city may have shown impeccable timing in its vote to purchase the properties along Pine and Washington.

Members of this newspaper’s staff will no doubt look back soon and remember the days that they worked in the Rosenberg’s Building or printed the paper in the adjacent pressroom on Pine.

But here’s hoping they do so while looking on at a newly developed facility that adds to the comeback of a once-proud city.