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SCHENECTADY
Center City being renovated Jay St. tenants have until year’s end to relocate
BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter

    The Galesi Group has launched a $12 million renovation of Center City, gutting the third floor of the mammoth downtown structure and asking tenants along the Jay Street side of the building to relocate.
    Galesi plans to completely rehabilitate the building and convert it into space for retail businesses, commercial and professional offices and apartments.
    The Capital District YMCA is also discussing with Galesi a proposal to relocate a new city branch to Center City. Capital District YMCA President and CEO J. David Brown said he had nothing new to report about that potential.
    Galesi executive David Buicko was not available for comment.
    Officials would not reveal construction details, but said plans could involve demolishing a public area in front of the building and a terrace along Jay Street, creating atgrade entrances into Center City.
    Galesi, which bought the building earlier this year, has notified tenants along Jay Street they need to relocate by the end of the year as the rehabilitation progresses.
    Tenants include the Downtown Schenectady Improvement Corp., Jay Street Studios, a city police substation and Innovations, a gift shop operated by the Schenectady Museum and Suits-Bueche Planetarium.
    The Metroplex Development Authority, which is working with Galesi on the project, is helping several of the tenants relocate downtown. Innovations, however, is closing for good. Museum spokeswoman Erin Breslin said, “We had a good run.”
    Breslin said the museum had a hard time keeping the store open because it was staffed with volunteers. The volunteers come from the Schenectady ARC.
    ARC client Elizabeth Hassel, who has volunteered at Innovations since it opened two years ago, said she enjoys working in the store. She works one day a week for four hours as part of the ARC’s Life Preparation II Program.
    Anthony Lucier, an ARC direct support professional, said the clients love coming to the shop. “They do art, they interact with each other and with the customers,” he said.
    He wasn’t sure what would happen to the ARC clients once Innovations closed.
    James Salengo, DSIC executive director, said his agency is seeking space for four full-time employees downtown. “I look at this as an opportunity to stop and think hard about the future of our organization,” he said.
    Salengo said the DSIC enjoyed its space in Center City, as it was in the “center of it all,” but he said there is other space out there.
    Jay Street Studios is operated by Proctors. Proctors’ CEO Philip Morris said he knew the location was temporary. “We occupied vacant space. Now that there is new use for the space, we are looking for new space for the artists,” he said.
    Metroplex Chairman Ray Gillen said the fi ve artists from the studios will go to shops along Jay Street, filling up currently empty storefronts.
    Gillen said the relocation of the Center City tenants is a sign of progress. “We had to do something with Center City and it’s getting done,” he said.
    The Blackwatch soccer organization, which uses the inside soccer field at Center City, also will relocate after the summer, Gillen said. The rock gym will remain in Center City, he said.
    The city has contributed $2.5 million from the Restore NY Communities Initiatives Program toward the $12 million project. The remainder is private financing, Gillen said.

I hope that they don't consider or include DSIC, Jay St Studios(Proctors), the Police substation and Innovations(Museum), as part of the revitalization of down town. They are clearly either all paid by the taxpayer or are non profits. Which will be replaced by a what?....YMCA? Where are all of the private sector jobs?

When will the Big House open? When will the clothing store from Saratoga open? When will Bombers open? The Van Dyke up for aution. Clintons Ditch up for sale. Back Stage up for sale. Well folks it appears that there is no incentives for private sector jobs to want to move or stay into the area. The plex has become a developers money making dream and a taxpayers nightmare!

And what about 122 Jay Street where Pizza King is now located. Who owns it and how much did they pay for it? What deal did the Pizza King get? How much money is the now owner of 122 Jay Street receiving from the Metroplex for renovations? It is a major scam of our tax money going from one 'selective' pocket into another 'selective' pocket.

Finally, in a backhanded way, they have come out and said exactly who they are...it's the

Center
City
Capitalization
Program

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SCHENECTADY
Jay Street merchants ready for project
BY MICHAEL GOOT Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter Michael Goot at 395-3123 or mgoot@dailygazette.net.

    Artisans and local merchants on Jay Street are prepared for the disruption of their businesses during the $12 million renovation of the Center City complex but say they hope the new development will boost downtown.
    The Galesi Group is gutting the third floor of the complex as part of renovation of the space for retail businesses, commercial and professional offices and apartments.
    In the process, merchants will be displaced from the Jay Street Studios, operated by Proctors. In addition, the Downtown Schenectady Improvement Corp. and a city police substation will have to find new space. Innovations, a gift shop operated by the Schenectady Museum and Suits-Bueche Planetarium, is shutting down. The Blackwatch soccer organization is relocating its soccer program after the summer, but the indoor rock-climbing wall and gym will stay.
    Michelle Bynoe, owner of Inspired bookstore, said jackhammering has started on a part of the building. “It was a lot of noise,” she said.
    Bynoe said business owners on Jay Street have gone through construction before. She is excited about the new retail space the owners of Center City are planning because she thinks it will stimulate foot traffi c.
    “If they go shop there, they’re more likely to shop here too,” she said.
    Paisa Miser owner Ashok Mirpuri expects disruption in the short term. “You’ve got to live with it, I guess. We need things like this to go on to promote the downtown retail businesses.”
    “You’ve got to be positive.”
    Other merchants like Carol Markytan, owner of Glassy Beads, said she is willing to put up with some inconvenience. “We’re looking forward to a good change in bringing lots more people downtown.”
    Kim Williams, of Trinity Storm Designs, said it would be nice if the businesses were compensated on their rent if they do lose a lot of business.
    Nancy Niefield, owner of Two Spruce Pottery, is excited about downtown changes. She said that the Downtown Schenectady Improvement Corp. knows it has to keep businesses in the loop about the changes.
    “Hopefully, they will keep us in mind and try to make it as unobtrusive as possible.”
    DSIC Executive Director James Salengo said the organization hopes to arrange a meeting between the developers and the merchants so they can get an understanding of the project’s scope and schedule. The DSIC will try to make sure direct access to storefronts is maintained and encourage loud or messy work to take place outside of peak business hours.
    “We can’t directly control that but we can be a voice for the businesses,” he said.
    DSIC hopes to find its own 3,000-square-foot, street-level space downtown in the next couple of months, he added. Efforts are also under way to fi nd new space for the artisans. Proctors Chief Executive Officer Philip Morris said he is working to fi nd comparable space on Jay Street for the Jay Street Studios. “We’re pretty confident that we’ll be successful,” he said.
    Painter Debi Angilletta said merchants are looking at the former Earthly Delights space. “We’re trying to see if it’s economically feasible for us,” she said. “We’ve got until Nov. 30. We’re hopeful we can find something so we can all stay together here.”
    She said she likes the energy on Jay Street. “There’s lots of activity, especially during lunch time and the Art Nights,” she said.

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New Center City In Schenectady To Debut
Monday, October 11, 2010, 3:26pm EDT

About 450 people will get the first look this week inside the new offices at Center City in Schenectady — a five-story building whose design has been both praised and criticized.
The 60,000 square feet of office and retail space rises high above State and Jay streets downtown, directly across from Proctors.
It replaces what had been a two-story edifice with small offices and a plaza in front. The scale tied in seamlessly with the nearby Jay Street pedestrian mall, while the new building literally towers over the small shops on Jay Street.
Some in the city have bemoaned the loss of the plaza and the height of the new structure.
Others say good riddance to the old building because of the down-and-out people who occasionally loitered outside, sullying the image of a downtown trying to clean up and reinvent itself.
David Buicko, chief operating officer of The Galesi Group, the owner/builder of the new development, said it blends old with new. Center City is actually three interconnected buildings.
“We preserved a building from the 1890s and another from the early 1900s, and integrated them into the new construction,” Buicko said. “The building we took down was built in the late 1970s and in terrible shape.”
Responding to critics, he said, “Everybody is entitled to their opinion.”
Galesi Group of Rotterdam has been responsible some of the biggest projects in the city over the past decade, including the MVP Health Care headquarters, Movieland cinema and the Golub Corp. headquarters.......................>>>>...............................>>>>..................http://albany.bizjournals.com/.....ut.html?surround=lfn

Downtown Schenectady has greatly improved under the leadership of Mayor Stratton, Metroplex leader Ray
Gillen, and, of course, the great County Legislature led by Susan Savage.  Their leadership and working with
private enterprises such as Galesi Group are inspiring the renaissance of Schenectady.  Now let's work together
to spread that renaissance up into the neighborhoods and surrounding towns.

The Center City renovations are just awesome -- great job done by all.

There is nothing left to the neighborhoods because they have been neglected for so long they are in utter collapse. Wake up and taste the Folgers.

You can remain in the Perpetual Negativity Choir if you wish.

I am thinking positive and moving forward.

Think positive, but your statements are not based in reality or fact, sorry.

And I can chose to live in reality, because when you don't live in reality, everyone including yourself is in danger.

The taxpayers in schenectady county have been fed the bullcrap story for a decade! Within that time, the taxes are now so high that people are walking away from their homes because they can no longer afford them. Crime and shootings and murders are at an all time high! Hell, there are still at least 2 shooters, that the taxpayers know of, still at large! There are no NEW jobs, short of a barmaid or a theater ticket taker. All other jobs are nothing more than relocations! Government is HUGE with patronage jobs and the 'chosen few' are just getting richer while the taxpayer is footing the bill.

People are becoming smarter and more aware of their declining surroundings.....and they aren't happy! IMHO

and rotterdam ISN'T ready for the influx of those looking for cheap rent/homes.......what do we think will happen as the vagrants get pushed out of the city????? honestly rotterdam WAKE UP AND SMELL
THE FUTURE......

SEWERS NOW!!!!!!

The Regressive Party or the Nattering Nabobs of Negativity are at it again ---- jealous that Mayor
Stratton and the City Council, Metroplex and Ray Gillen, and the County Legislature and Susan Savage
are moving the City of Schenectady and the County of Schenectady  FORWARD.

The revitalized Center City is a HUGE accomplishment --- and the BEST IS YET TO COME.

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

The revitalized Center City is a HUGE accomplishment --- and the BEST IS YET TO COME.

You're definitely not a resident of Schenectady DVOR, because if you were, you would know that the Suzie Sunshine Crap is really wearing thin. Each time I open my tax bill, I cringe. Many of my older friends open their bills and have to make the decision to sell their homes. Even trying to sell a $250K house is close to impossible anyway because the taxes are over $10k.

I pass down State Street, and it is far from safe! Do you know that most of the people who work at   the Lottery building would rather stay inside for lunch than venture downtown? My friend at Siemens  gets followed by bums each time he used the atm downtown. He now does his banking elsewhere. Many of the people who work in Schenectady during the weekday tell me that they won't return for the weekends. They have no desire to visit downtown.

Do you know that on that 400 block you have the Court building and jail, the Ellis Mental Health Clinic, the City Mission and the New Choices Drug Rehab Center. Their are criminals, homeless, drug addicts (not to mention the numerous half dozen level 2 & 3 Sex Offenders on Jay Street) all on the same block?!

Wake up! The Mayor, Savage and Gillen put a new building (with a current 30% vacancy rate and now more empty office space) in the middle of a toilet bowl. Please, don't do me anymore miracles! I need some REAL HELP!!!! Cut my taxes, straighten out my over-inflated assessment, stop this curb  fee and put the money into my welfare and safety. I pay my taxes...now the Mayor should start paying attention to the crapper he's created.

When you move into Schenectady DVOR, let me know how you like being raped as a taxpayer!!!

It's a HUGE accomplishment-for the developers! That's the name of the game. A huge cash transfusion from suburban consumers to rich politically connected developers that supposed to help the City. What a joke. Like the SS Savage's political implosion. She laid an egg with the cheese maker.

     A complete failure. Socialism on steroids that can't work and never has worked. Good luck trying to sell your property in the City. Between Son of Sam and the worst schools in Upstate-who would buy? Even the churches and mosques are heading for the hills. A 6 bedroom-3 bath mansion in the historic GE Realty Plot for only $199,000 and no takers. If this mansion was in Rexford it would list for $899,000. They don't have SS Savage, Death Ray, Son of Sam and the other stooges running everything into the dirt.