The arts influence, with Capital Rep, The Egg, the Palace and the Arena as performing arts anchors, and The Albany Center Galleries (now located on Columbia Street) becoming a magnet for expressive arts, is engaged. All the venues see healthy attendance at events.

Sarah Martinez, Executive Director of the Albany Center Galleries, talks about their move to their latest location on Columbia Street just off Broadway. “We wanted to be near Capital Rep and The Palace Theater. We see the potential for a Downtown Arts District, and we want to be part of it.”

“Our membership and our Board,” says Martinez, “knew there was going to be revitalization and growth—people living Downtown. It’s not completely there yet, but we can see a trend. It is happening.”

They also wanted to be more visible to the army of office workers, from the city and the suburbs, who descend on the area each day. That thinking has proved insightful as well. “Membership has doubled since our move,” Martinez reports. “We’ve kept our long-term supporters and gained many new ones.”

“Our members also wanted to be closer to the corporate market. We want to develop a movement toward regional corporations displaying and collecting the work of regional artists for their offices.” There has been some interest already, Martinez says, and this is an area of development that the Gallery sees as an exciting challenge and opportunity for growth.

The residential component is still not fully in place, but it is clearly growing and with Albany’s first Downtown high-rise condominium project (see below) set for a fall 2009 opening, Martinez says it certainly looks like things are coming together just as Gallery members had hoped.

Capital Repertory Theater (Capital Rep or just Cap Rep to its many friends), Albany’s professional regional theater company, has a 27 year track record, a strong connection with the local community and an expanding arts audience that makes them glad they are located in the heart of Downtown. They are the longest active pioneering organization and have been through many ups and downs, hopes and false starts. This time, they say, it seems like it is the real thing.

They note the presence of fine restaurants—both old and new—in the neighborhood, and other attractions like clubs that are open after the show for a drink and a bite to eat. Albany’s other major performance venues—the Palace and the Arena—are just a short walk away, which draws people and adds to the sense of excitement and “something happening.” With the area becoming increasingly safe, clean, interesting and attractive, things are moving in a direction that can only benefit Cap Rep.

Elizabeth Doran, Managing Director, sees a trend, where the Theater is an engine as well as a beneficiary. “Cap Rep is part of an economic machine in downtown,” she says. “We know that for every dollar spent on the arts, Americans spend an additional $1.40 in the neighborhood/community. Our restaurant partners do especially well. On nights when we have a show, it’s hard to find an empty table.”

The change in the neighborhood has been fueled by demand—part of it created by play-goers. “Downtown has become a ‘full-night-out’ destination where people can come, have a drink, or a drink and dinner in any one of a dozen places within walking distance, and see a show.”

All the businesses in the area have what Doran describes as a “symbiotic relationship.” And that is only going to increase, she says in light of what Cap Rep sees as the most exciting trend in the area—an increase in residential occupancy. “Life here will be going to a 24 hour experience—and Cap Rep part will be part of it.” The impact that kind of positive energy makes on a neighborhood is good for everyone.

As Doran points out, most directly aided by the attractive force of these venues are the restaurants. Time-tested Albany institutions like Jack’s continue to flourish, with their established lunch-and-dinner crowd of the political and business sets, but also find added demand on “event” nights, that increases their viability.

Some, like Yono’s/dp Grill have become closely tied with these venues. Donna Purnomo of Yono’s is a board member at Cap Rep, hosts fundraising events for them and offers “dinner and a show” promotions that benefit both the theater and the restaurant. She and her husband, Chef Yono, have run restaurants in the Downtown area for decades through many changes, but their faith in the area, which has always supported them, remains strong.

Neighborhood pioneer Neal Evans, at the Albany Pump Station, was one of the first to see the possibilities of renovation and revitalization, when he took an abandoned industrial building and turned it into a visually striking restaurant and pub. It has become a favorite of a regular crowd of visitors who work downtown, as well as a relaxed place to stop for a bite and a beer before, after or even in between events in the neighborhood.

He offers a “Bar & Grill” menu with an interesting selection of appetizers and finger foods complemented by a selection of excellent artisan beers crafted on-premises (and, of course, cocktails for those who will). The restaurant features intimate private booths, a relaxed atmosphere and a menu of fine-dining choices. There are banquet and party facilities as well, and The Pump Station hosts many group gatherings throughout the year.

Evans was more optimistic than certain when he undertook the transformation of the old Pump Station. “I wasn’t sure, at first, that I could succeed in a Downtown location,” says Evans. There was very little going on Downtown at that time. “But, I had really good parking, and I was going to be in a dramatic and beautiful historic building. I believed I could attract a clientele.”

Since then, things have gotten even better. “Saving the Palace Theater,” he declares, “was pivotal. It could have been torn down. There were developers who wanted the property. But, the City stepped in and made it possible for it to be preserved—and now beautifully restored—and turned into a very attractive performance venue. It’s been a lynch-pin of what is happening here.” Evans believes that Downtown revitalization is still building momentum. “It can only go up.”

His neighbor, Nicole Plisson, of Nicole’s Bistro, is also a long-time believer, ensconced in the 17th-century Quackenbush House and offering an intimate, French-bistro style of dining, with a café-terrace as well, in the warmer months. She has established a niche for herself that has continued to attract a following, including lunch for many who work locally and tourists coming to the City’s Visitor Center next door, as well as a dinner crowd of those attending local events, or coming Downtown for the unique atmosphere and menu she offers.

In addition to businesses like these that make the historic center of the City attractive and give people a reason to go there, there is another important factor in the equation for successful redevelopment, and that is the residential community. In the first of this series, we talked about the outreach that organizations like the Palace Theater do to connect with the local community, speak to their needs and tastes, and give them a sense of being stakeholders in the future of the area.
A pioneering effort in the direction of creating a residential base that will have ownership interest in the area is being made by Norstar Development, the force behind the Capital Grand Condominium project at 733 Broadway. Mitch Markowitz, Director of Sales and Marketing for Norstar Developments, which has been building homes and condominium developments across the U.S. and Canada, says despite having to break new ground, the decision was a relatively easy one.
“Having been involved in and witnessed the 'revival' or 'gentrification' of the downtown areas of other major North American cities, we...were taken aback at the fact that Downtown Albany, the Capital City of New York State had not yet experienced the proliferation of luxury hi-rise condominium buildings...”

Norstar President Rick Higgins, a long time area resident, and his partners got wind of the availability of the 733 property, and realized that it had all the elements required for the kind of project they had been envisioning.

From all the residential floors (the first few floors house amenities like the on-site fitness club, community and function rooms, a lobby and protected parking for residents’ cars), it would overlook the greenway of the Corning Preserve and the Hudson River. It would be just a block from access to Interstate 787, a ten-minute walk to the State Offices and Downtown Business District, and just a few steps away from many of the City’s best restaurants (with more to come).
It would be a short walk to the cultural attractions that are already bringing people downtown. It would be close to North Pearl Street’s burgeoning night-life scene, with a variety of clubs and entertainment.

It would be the first of its kind, and as such, could expect to partner with the City in a venture that would be good for everybody. And that is the way it turned out.

“Mayor Jennings and the other City officials we have dealt with could not have been more receptive,” Markowitz recalls. “They, along with the Downtown Albany Business Improvement District, have co-operated and assisted us in every way possible in the research, acquisition, zoning and pre-development process.”

“Since this was Downtown Albany's first luxury condominium residence, there was and is a real pioneer spirit required. Without the full co-operation we received through this process, this could have taken two or three times as long.”

It’s that identity, as a “luxury condominium development,” that propels the project onward. For “a young person who does not want the proverbial front & backyard, which means spending weekends cutting grass, a driveway, which means snow to shovel, and the other typical 'chores' that go hand in hand with traditional home ownership,” or “those of us 'graying at the temples' who have already been through that stage of our lives and want to relax and enjoy ourselves,” Markowitz points out, “the carefree lifestyle of condominium living” is an attractive alternative that “has been a long time coming to Downtown Albany.”

Now, thanks to the vision and entrepreneurial spirit of Norstar, it is becoming a reality. Although construction has yet to begin, many of the units have already been sold to what Markowitz describes as a “Who’s Who of the Capital Region,” and other developers are watching closely, ready to try to get in on the action.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that part of the deal Norstar made with the City involves Empire Zone incentives that will make these already affordable units (they start at less than $180,000 and range up to just over $500K) much less expensive from a tax perspective than private residences of equal value for the first ten years.

This kind of influx of investment and of several hundred people—all of whom are potential audiences and customers—will create additional demand on the arts sector, restaurants and eventually on the slow-to-develop retail base. This residential component is one that has always been part of Downtown revitalization plans, but has never—until now—been so close to realization.

The success of this project is already acting as a magnet for other developers who will hopefully use the momentum Norstar is creating to leapfrog to successful projects of their own. That’s the way the building of critical mass for such revitalization typically works.

The Capital Grand Condominiums project is one very important brick in a new foundation for a vibrant, prosperous Downtown.

In the next installment of our series, we’ll be talking with some long-time retail business owners, some other restaurateurs, political leaders and facilitators who are working together to make a revitalized Downtown a reality.

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