Rain showers this morning with overcast skies during the afternoon hours. High around 45F. Winds WNW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Higher wind gusts possible..
Tonight
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SCHENECTADY — A more than $50 million project to turn the former St. Clare’s Hospital campus on McClellan Street in Schenectady into a mixed-used project featuring hundreds of new apartments continues to move forward.
The Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority last week approved a sales tax exemption on building materials needed to restore to sprawling campus, along with a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement that will place the property on the tax rolls for the first time since the hospital opened in 1949.
Redevelopment plans first emerged in August, just weeks after Ellis Medicine, which bought the St. Clare’s property in 2008, began moving away from the campus. The hospital’s Belanger School of Nursing will remain at the campus, as well as a pair of medical offices.
Under the redevelopment plan — which is being spearheaded by Jeff Buell of Redburn Development and Chris and Brooke Sparagen, who own Schenectady Hardware and Electric — apartments will be constructed, as well as a day care facility and other commercial tenants.
The development team is pursuing historical designation in hopes of unlocking state tax credits and Metroplex is also hoping the project receives $1.5 million in grant funding from the Restore NY program, which provides money to municipalities to restore commercial and residential properties.
Elsewhere in the city, the Metroplex board awarded an $894,000 contract to Peter Luizzi and Brothers Contracting to extend the ALCO Heritage Trail that runs through Mohawk Harbor and to reopen the ALCO tunnel that runs under a set of rail tracks and connects Erie Boulevard and North Jay Street.
Both projects were included as part of Schenectady’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative, a $10 million state grant awarded in 2019 to rehab certain portions of downtown.
The projects aim to better connect downtown with the harbor and build on efforts to better enhance multi-use trail connections throughout the county.
Metroplex also awarded an additional $40,000 in funding to restore a historic building at 417 Union St., near the gateway to Little Italy.
Terry Aldrick, proprietor of The Backstage Pub on Smith Street, is behind the project, which includes a complete renovation of the multi-story home, built in 1897, into three market-rate apartments.
The Metroplex board previously awarded the project a $40,000 grant to help with façade improvements, but additional rot was discovered during the renovation which increased the project budget, according to Ray Gillen, chair of the Metroplex board.
On nearby Yates Street, Metroplex will also be providing a $75,000 façade grant to restore 9 Yates St., a long-vacant building directly across the street from Dale’s on Yates. The building was purchased by local attorney Jeffrey Cardone, who is planning a major renovation that includes opening a salon on the first floor and apartments on the second.
