ALBANY — A three-building project led by a Redburn Development executive and partners would continue the diversification of the North Pearl Street corridor downtown by replacing former restaurant spaces with a cooking school, commercial kitchen available for community rental and dormitory-style housing for the culinary students.
Funding has been arranged and leases signed for two of the projects, stakeholders said, with launches projected for late summer for both. The third and most expensive component, the dorm in a vacant five-story building that previously had a bar at street level and upstairs offices, will require additional parties to invest, preferably from both public and private sectors, to cover the estimated $3 million cost, according to those involved.
The culinary school is going into 55 Columbia St., half a block off of North Pearl and former home of The Cloud Food Hall, which closed earlier this year after struggling to find a niche since opening in fall 2020 amid the pandemic. The school represents the evolution of training in cooking and other aspects of the hospitality industry offered by the Schenectady-based Social Enterprise and Training Center.
Known as the SEAT Center, the not-for-profit assists young people ages 18 to 24, most without high school diplomas or employment histories, by offering GED courses, life-skills classes and coaching, mentorship and training in sectors including construction, web tech, emergency medical technician and hospitality. The SEAT culinary center is taking over both levels of 55 Columbia, a building that was among the approximately 10 in the North Pearl corridor purchased and redeveloped by Redburn in recent years. The upstairs, with a dining room and large kitchen installed for Cloud Food Hall, will be both cooking area and classroom, with a communal table for occasional, reservation-only dinners that will allow students to put hands-on restaurant learning into practice, said…
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