One year makes huge difference in Flats at 249 in downtown Albany

ALBANY — It was one year ago. To the day.

Albany developer Pace Burt had just taken a group of young professionals on a tour of the former Albany Heights building that he planned to turn into the Flats at 249 mixed-use residential development. In a question-answer session after the tour, Burt told the group, “I figure we’ll start getting ready to move in here in about a year.”

On Friday, as Burt showed a visitor the transformation that had taken place in the facility over that year, he thumbed his way through his Facebook page on his cellphone and said, “Check this out.”

The display was an Albany Herald article and photo from that year-ago meeting.

“Big changes, huh?” Burt noted.

Big changes indeed.

On the day after Burt had the first two tenants move into the as-yet not-quite-finished development, it was not too difficult to notice the pride he was obviously feeling as he talked about the process of transforming the structure.

“Man, this place hasn’t looked this good since the 1920s,” Burt said as he sat in a comfortable chair and answered questions in the Flats at 249 lobby. “So, yeah, I guess I’d have to say that I do feel a great deal of pride in having brought back this building that was such a big part of Albany’s history. And it’s been gratifying to have people come up to me just about every day and tell me how much they appreciate it.

“People know I took a big financial risk in doing this. But I just felt an obligation to do something for the community that’s been so good to me. And as we went over budget in getting this project done, I just considered it giving back.”

Even as he acknowledged the significant work completed on the development over the past year, Burt admitted that there was still plenty to be done before wholesale occupation could take place. The elevator has been a particularly troublesome issue, and its completion is still weeks away.

But some tenants — the development already has pre-leasing agreements for 30 percent of the available units — are ready for downtown living and will be moving in sporadically over the next few weeks.

“Until we get at least 30 percent actual occupancy, we will have security on-site,” Burt said. “Security and safety are a prime issue with us; in fact one of the biggest unseen expenses we’ve had was with life safety issues: fire alarms, the security system, smoke detectors. But we’re sparing no expense in those areas.

“One thing that is important to note is that there is only (coded) fob access to the building, to the stairwell and to the elevator when it is completed. There are layers of security. And the security system extends into every corridor and is monitored 24 hours a day.”

Burt also did not anticipate the level of decay that had set in in the building since its last occupancy.

“It’s been sitting for several years, and then there were the tenants who were here before that; they left a considerable mess,” he said. “There was mold and other issues. We ended up taking the structure down to the studs, which we hadn’t anticipated. We gutted the thing.

“And even though there was air conditioning in the building, we decided to go ahead and put in all new units.”

Julia Temples, the owner of the Envy boutique in northwest Albany, has already committed to one of the retail spaces in the lobby of the Flats at 249. She has said she anticipates opening a sister boutique — Bandit and the Babe — in that space in a matter of weeks. A crossfit workout space and restaurant are expected to be the next occupants in the retail section of the development.

“We look at the things that are happening downtown as part of the amenities of our development,” Burt said. “We gave Chehaw $25,000 to develop a mountain bike trail between here and the park, and we gave $25,000 to facilitate the art museum’s move downtown.

“The (Pretoria Fields) brewery has been phenomenal beyond expectation — (Dr. Tripp Morgan) and his folks did such a superior job of renovating that place, plus they have great beer. And then there are retail spaces opening up downtown, and I’m excited at what the Fish House restaurant (and events center) is going to bring to the area.”

Who knows, one is left to wonder, what another year will bring?