ALBANY — Nine years ago, I described Kiernan Plaza as a potent symbol of the new Albany. Put that down as an opinion that didn’t age well.
At the time, the old train station had been taken over by the SUNY College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, which was promising to bring the region’s newfangled tech boom downtown. The idea was for tech firms to launch at the landmark before taking their inevitable success to other downtown Albany office buildings.
Alas, it never worked out that way, even though Albany Nanotech founder Alain Kaloyeros was gifted a $4 million state grant to renovate the grand old building on Broadway, across from Tricentennial Park and near the federal courthouse. The remade building landed SEFCU and Clough Harbour & Associates as tenants, but that was about the extent of its success before the Kaloyeros empire fell apart after his (recently overturned) bid-rigging conviction.
And now, Kiernan Plaza sits as another underutilized downtown asset, making it more an emblem of the city’s enduring struggles than a symbol of anything potent or new. Like the city, Kiernan is beautiful and full of potential that seems forever unrealized.
The old Beaux-Arts station is likely to be sold by NY CREATES, the state entity that manages what remains of the Nanotech empire, for just $1 million. The likely buyer, Redburn Development, initially agreed to purchase the former station for $1.25 million but recently requested a reduction, citing higher interest rates and construction costs for planned offices and apartments as reasons.
One particularly vocal critic of the deal is Rich Azzopardi, formerly of the Andrew Cuomo administration and continuing spokesman for the ex-governor, who in a series of tweets has noted that the price is well below the assessed value. Even if Albany’s $12.5 million assessment is inflated, which is undoubtedly the case, the price seems quite a…
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