Here is an article about a development finally getting off the ground in East Greenbush.
Long-gestating East Greenbush development getting underway:
https://www.timesunion.com/news/arti...ness-spotlight
"Town Center, with three buildings at 578-580 Columbia Turnpike near the southern end of Route 4, will have 78 apartments and 20,000 square feet of commercial space, including a restaurant"
More: "A mixed-use project first proposed five years ago has begun construction and will, in its first phase, bring 78 apartments and 20,000 square feet of commercial, retail and restaurant spaces to three buildings near the southern terminus of Route 4 at Columbia Turnpike. The first tenants are projected to move in next spring.
Called Town Center and located at 578 and 580 Columbia Turnpike, the development will include two four-story buildings and a three-story companion unit. The smaller building has been approved for an approximately 4,000-square-foot restaurant space with 1,000 square feet of outdoor dining at one end, while the other end has already been leased for an unnamed business with a drive-through window, said Tyler Culberson of NAI Platform, who is leasing the commercial spaces for the developer, 580 Columbia LLC.
"This is the first significant construction in that area in 20 years, and we think it will reinvigorate the Columbia Turnpike corridor," Culberson said Wednesday. Future phases of the development call for six to eight more residential buildings, on what is now wooded land south of the new buildings, for a total of up to the 275 apartments approved by the town, though those phases are several years in the future, he said.
Facing the road will be the first phase's four- and three-story buildings, at 578 and 580 Columbia Turnpike, respectively, with construction already underway. They will have a combined six to eight commercial tenants, depending on the business' space needs, with rental apartments upstairs, Culberson said. The third building, behind 578 Columbia Turnpike, will be four stories, all residential, he said. An unrelated self-storage facility that previously was a racquetball club sits behind the properties, according to Culberson.
The developer believes Town Center's commercial spaces will be of most interest to service businesses geared to residents in what are being described as luxury apartments that are intended to be of interest to employees of the quickly expanding Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. Though headquartered in Tarrytown, the company has manufacturing facilities in Rensselaer County projected to total 4,500 employees, including most working less than 3 miles down Columbia Turnpike from Town Center.
Likely business tenants include banks, gyms, salons, pharmacies and cafes, Culberson said. While most of the commercial space was undesignated, developers included the 4,000-square-foot restaurant and its outdoor dining area in the original plan.
"We think the restaurant will set the tone" for Town Center, Culberson said, citing the popularity of the quality restaurants Chez Mike and Nic's Trattoria, both nearby on Columbia Turnpike.
"They've shown there's a market for that kind of dining," he said. "Fast-food restaurants aren't the only ones that can survive there."
The Town Center name connects the project to a comprehensive plan the town of East Greebush adopted last year to create a sense of place for Rensselaer County's most populous community, stretching from the Rensselaer city line in the west to Schodack 4 miles east along the part of routes 9 and 20 known as Columbia Turnpike. The plan envisions a town center at the Route 4/Columbia Turnpike intersection, now dominated by shopping plazas and expansive parking lots. The Town Center buildings' hundreds of apartments would bring a residential component to a strip largely lacking it.
The project was first proposed in 2017 as Town Center Planned Development District. Calling for four buildings on the property once occupied by the deteriorating former Weathervane Restaurant, razed in 2016, it drew opposition from some neighbors concerned about its size.
Since taking office in 2016, Town Supervisor Jack Conway has repeatedly emphasized the need to connect the different parts of the suburban town of more than 16,000 residents, from the older neighborhoods west of Route 4 to the more sprawling developments and rural countryside eastward toward Schodack. The $2 million the town has spent over the past six years on improvements to parks and recreation have been complemented by state-funded sidewalk upgrades along Columbia Turnpike and the construction of the 36-mile-long Albany Hudson Electric Trail, Conway has said.
The New York State Recreation and Parks Society honored Conway as its elected official of the year for 2021, citing the town's increased investment in East Greenbush Town Park.
"Our sense of the town is there's no center. You don't have a town center," Conway told the Times Union last year.
Describing East Greenbush as being connected by "distinct neighborhoods, nodes of commercial activity, abundant natural resources, residents and business owners," the comprehensive plan said its goal is to "enhance those connections and create a sustainable and inclusive community with major employers, quality housing options, successful activity nodes and a high quality of life."
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
