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SCHENECTADY
Foster Building will be bought
Metroplex plans to fix up group of four structures
BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter

    The Metroplex Development Authority is purchasing the deteriorated Foster Building on State Street and three nearby structures for $250,000 with the intent of converting them into retail, office and residential space.
    The agreement, expected to be completed by the end of the month, ends Metroplex’s eminent domain proceedings against owners Craig G. Alsdorf and Dennis Todd.
    Metroplex began eminent domain proceedings in state Supreme Court last June. The case was due to be heard in April, having been postponed in February to give both sides a chance to work out an agreement.
    Metroplex Chairman Ray Gillen said the purchase agreement involves four buildings totaling approximately 48,000 square feet. The buildings are the 19,200-square-foot Foster Building at 508 State St.; a 5,115-square-foot building at 510 State St.; a 12,400-square-foot building at 512 State St.; and a 11,000-square-foot building at 204 Lafayette St.
    Gillen said the Foster Building has been vacant for 15 years and is dilapidated. Built in 1907, the building is listed on the National Register for its distinctive architectural style, called beaux arts. Beaux arts is a neoclassical architectural style that was taught at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. It heavily influenced American architecture between 1890 and 1920.
    Schenectady Heritage Foundation Chairwoman Gloria Kishton called Metroplex’s purchase “fantastic and long overdue. I am so happy to see movement on that building.”
    Ron DiDonna, a state-certified appraiser, called the $250,000 purchase price reasonable. “They are almost shells. It will cost at least $1 million to fix those buildings,” he said.
    By example, he said he is selling a 9,450-square-foot building at Liberty and Jay streets for $250,000, even though it is assessed at $420,000.
    Gillen said Metroplex will stabilize the buildings and then market them to developers interested in creating downtown retail, housing and office space.
    “The goal is to preserve historic buildings and replace currently vacant buildings with new vibrancy, new jobs and new tax base,” he said.
    Gillen said the Foster Building needs roof work and its windows repaired.
    “We understand the building and what it needs. This is why Metroplex exists. Action is needed to take something that is vacant and derelict for more than a decade and bring it back to life,” he said.
    DiDonna said Metroplex should have better luck redeveloping the properties than other property owners.
    “What is keeping downtown commercial properties from increasing in value are the exorbitant tax rates and the excessive assessments in the city of Schenectady,” he said.
    He said Metroplex can afford to take the hit on redeveloping the properties because it is using public money. But a regular property owner has to raise rents to make the investment profitable. Metroplex receives funding through a portion of the county’s sales tax. ................>>>>...............>>>>...................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00903&AppName=1