Shopping development set to open in December in east Albany

ALBANY — As a college student, Jaymin Patel worked to develop a concept to save shoppers time and give them the opportunity to do most of their shopping at one location instead of running from place to place.

His four years of making a reality of his idea, which he started developing while a student at Duke University, will become a reality around the first of the new year with the opening of the One Leaf shopping center in east Albany.

“The One Leaf concept, the goal of the concept, is to save people time, perhaps one hour, two hours, three hours,” he said. “The majority of their daily necessities should be done in one shot.

“The goal of One Leaf is always going to be the same: having all these amenities in the same area so people can go do A, B, C, D, E and then go home and do what they need to do.”

The 1629 Clark Ave. facility will initially house stores and services. They include Elements Coffee Co., Blade Kings Barber Shop, Ethnic Shyness Beauty Shop, Juana Vape, a soul food restaurant, a shoe store, convenience store, cafe and postal service.

“Most of these businesses will be run by community members who are in east Albany,” Patel said.

Phase I of development encompassing 12,000 square feet of space and is expected to employ about 60 to 100 people. Future plans include a gym and apartment housing nearby, among other things.

“The cool thing is, this is Phase 1,” Patel said. “By the end of Phase III, we should have 300 people employed.

“One Leaf aims to save its customers at least an hour of time a day through developing a true full-service ‘convenience’ store concept through strategic partnerships, smart design, and a vast multitude of on-site services.”

The development, which represents $4 million to $5 million in investment, is expected to open in December.

One element of the plan has drawn opposition — the request for a package liquor sales license at a convenience store across the street at 1515 Clark Ave.

The store has been in operation for 21 years and already has a license for package sales of beer and wine.

Patel said it is part of the One Leaf concept and gives shoppers who do wish to purchase alcohol the chance to do so conveniently while visiting the center across the street.

“The liquor store is meant to be one of the services,” he said. “This building cannot be anything else. This building will need over $1 million in investment to make it anything else.”