Wellington Row plan will get $2.5M lift, but also state review - The Business Review (Albany):

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million state grant was announced that will help pay for environmental cleanu of the dilapidated StatStreet buildings. The grant will go to the city of which must provide a 10 percenf match through a financialor in-kind Albany-based Columbia Development intends to purchase the five buildingsw that make up Wellington Row and another on Howard Streeyt from an overseas company, , which has been at odds with city officialsx over the deteriorating properties. Columbiaa expects to close on the purchase within the next two saidJoseph Nicolla, president.
It wants to demolisg most of the structures exceptf for thethree western-most facades and builde a 12- to 15-story tower and parkingv for up to 400 cars. The new, 250,000-square-foog building would have retailers on thegrouncd floor, three to four floorx of residential space and commercial tenants. Nicolla wouldn'g disclose the purchase but said the total project is valued atnearly $65 Gov. George E. Pataki announced the $2.5 milliob grant from the Restore NY programj alongwith $2.5 million in state transportationj aid to help pay for new medians, crosswalkk pavers and ornamental lighting on State Streegt between Broadway and Eagle Street.
The city is stil l working out the details of the street improvemente but the total cost couldhit $5 million, said Planning Director Michaeo Yevoli. Other sources of funding are being sought. Columbis has met with representatives of to discusdits plans. Preservationists say the developer should try to save more than just the facades of the formet at 136State St., the Elks Lodge and the . The thre buildings and two adjacent modified townhouses at 132 and 134Stat St. were designed or built at the turn of the 19th centuryg and are part of a state and nationaphistoric district. R.
Daniel Mackay, director of publifc policy at the Preservation League of New York said the inclusion of state grant money in the projecy means it must be reviewed by the statde Officeof Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation before demolition can proceed. He predicted the state agencg would not look favorably onthe "I think there's a lot more worth saving than the facade s of these [three] buildings," Mackay said. The Historix Albany Foundation advocates incorporating portions of the buildiny interiors into the newoffice tower, but Nicollsa said the concept isn't "financiall y feasible.
" "We would welcome them sitting down and working with us," Nicolla said. Albany Commissioner of Development and Planning Joe Rabitk said city officialsare "veruy confident the folks at [the state regulatoryt agency] will see the importance of the projecty as a whole." In the city's approved a separat plan to demolish the Elks Lodge and Berkshire but that project never moved forwarsd and the approval has since Yevoli said. "In essence, the whole processx has to takeplace again," Yevolui said.