Office parks · New York
W. Averell Harriman State Office Building Campus
Proposed 330-acre redevelopment (housing, data center, retail) with no active construction; Columbia Development owns land but no project is underway. · summary, model-written
Solid = from the authors' map · outlined = public source · dashed = model-written, not yet reviewed by a person. Tap any value's source label to see where it came from. documented = a quoted excerpt (click to read it) · reported = a source named, no excerpt yet · no source.
Site profile11 elements · what this retrofit is built with · tap a chip for the evidence
Retrofit in the pipeline
This site: …proposed record · all sites with this3+ other atlas sites within 10 km
This site: 3 within 10 km computed · all sites with this1M+ sq ft GLA
This site: 3,000,000 sq ft newtypes-extraction · all sites with this60+ acre site
This site: 330 acres newtypes-extraction · all sites with thisRedeveloped
This site: The plan was originally envisioned in 2003 as a bold move to completely eliminate the ring road, demolish the existing buildings, and construct a hotel,… record · all sites with thisReinhabited
This site: The plan was originally envisioned in 2003 as a bold move to completely eliminate the ring road, demolish the existing buildings, and construct a hotel,… record · all sites with thisHotel
This site: …ring road, demolish the existing buildings, and construct a hotel, commercial, residential, and high tech office space all in newtypes-extraction · all sites with thisHousing
This site: the existing buildings, and construct a hotel, commercial, residential, and high tech office space all integrated with the surroun newtypes-extraction · all sites with thisMixed use
This site: …new_use field newtypes-extraction · all sites with thisOffice
This site: …d construct a hotel, commercial, residential, and high tech office space all integrated with the surrounding neighborhoods. newtypes-extraction · all sites with thisRetail (continued)
This site: …new_use field newtypes-extraction · all sites with thisNow
| Status | Retrofit proposedWikipedia no source |
|---|---|
| Strategy | Redevelopment · Reinhabitation, proposedWikipedia no source |
| New uses | data center, hotel, housing, mixed, office, retailWikipedia no source |
| What is there now | The plan was originally envisioned in 2003 as a bold move to completely eliminate the ring road, demolish the existing buildings, and construct a hotel, commercial, residential, and high tech office space all integrated with the surrounding neighborhoods.newtypes-extraction reported |
| Redeveloper | Columbia Developmentnewtypes-extraction reported |
Deals and debt
| Date | Event | Price | Parties | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Sold | $4.2M closed | Columbia Development | Wikipedia |
Site context
| Housing permits, Albany County (NY), 2024 | 523 units in 5+ unit buildings, 28 in 2–4, 190 single-family; 2023: 394 in 5+Census BPS |
|---|---|
| Other atlas sites nearby | 3 within 10 km, 8 within 25 km: Northway Mall (3.2 km); Albany Felt Company Complex (6.2 km); Latham Circle Mall (8.3 km)computed |
| Retail trade in the county, 2025 (BLS QCEW) | 20,338 jobs in 1,172 establishments; average annual pay $43,777; employment location quotient 0.87; employment +0.4% on the yearBLS QCEW 2025, NAICS 44-45, private |
| Jobs located in the tract, 2022 | 9,065 jobs; 493 in retail trade, 66 in accommodation and food (workplace blocks summed to tract 36001000403)Census LEHD LODES8 WAC 2022 |
| Upward mobility (Opportunity Atlas, 2010 tract) | children of low-income (25th percentile) families reached the 50th income percentile as adults; 4.8% incarcerated at the 2010 count (180 children in the sample); born 1978–83, measured 2014–15Opportunity Insights |
| Food access (USDA FARA 2019, 2010 tract) | not a low-access tract at 1 mile; 8% of residents more than 1 mile from a supermarket; poverty rate 12.3%; median family income $115,391; 286 SNAP householdsUSDA ERS |
| Schools | Albany City School District (PK-12); 3 public schools within 1 mile: NYS DEPT OF CORRECTIONS PLACEMENT; EAGLE POINT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL; MONTESSORI MAGNET SCHOOLNCES EDGE |
| Elevation | 254 ft above sea level at the site pointUSGS 3DEP |
| Storm events in the county, 2016-2025 | 367 county-logged events: 240 thunderstorm wind, 54 flash flood, 38 flood, 27 hail; $8,379,000 property damage reported; forecast-zone events (most flood, winter and heat) not countedNOAA Storm Events |
| Retail trade in the county, 2012 to 2023 | 1,233 establishments (-6%); 20,596 jobs (-5%)Census CBP |
| Housing market in the county | typical home value $372,401 (+4% 1 yr, +32% 5 yr); typical rent $1,697/mo (+5% 1 yr), 2026-09Zillow Research |
| Traffic on the busiest road within 600 m (2024) | 20,379 vehicles a day on WASHINGTON AVE (principal arterial, 4 lanes); 752 trucks; 39 counted segmentsFHWA HPMS |
| Site metrics | 9,091 sq ft GLA per acre; FAR 0.21computed |
Summary, model-written
The W. Averell Harriman State Office Building Campus (330 acres, 3M sq ft GLA) is proposed for redevelopment under Columbia Development. Current strategy is 'redevelop' and 'reinhabit' with new uses including data centers, hotels, housing, and retail. Status is 'proposed'—no construction underway. The 2003 vision to demolish existing buildings and integrate with neighborhoods was scrapped in 2007. Columbia Development acquired 12.6 acres in 2006, but the campus remains largely undeveloped (buildings demolished by 2015). The 2016 RFP for 27 acres indicates state is selling parcels. Nearby operating malls (Northway Mall, Latham Circle Mall) are within 10km. Housing is explicitly listed in new uses, but the opportunity score (20/100) cites 'already in play' as a limitation. No current construction or approved plans beyond the proposal. Housing market data (ZHVI $372k) and traffic (20k AADT) are provided but not directly relevant to the site's status.
Why. Record states 'proposed' with no active construction. Columbia Development owns land but no new development is confirmed. Nearby malls operate, and housing is listed as a new use but opportunity score is low due to 'already in play' factors. Demolition occurred by 2015, but no new buildings exist.
Where it stands. Site is vacant (buildings demolished), awaiting developer action. No permits for new construction recorded. State is selling parcels (27 acres via 2016 RFP), but no timeline or final plan exists. Housing inclusion is noted but not implemented.
For a planner
- 330-acre scale requires significant coordination
- Ring road elimination was proposed but abandoned (2007)
- Nearby operating malls may affect retail viability
For a developer
- 330 acres offers scale but opportunity score low due to competition
- Housing is a listed use but no market data tied to site
- Columbia Development has land ownership but no active project
What we do not know yet
- No current construction timeline
- 2003 plan failed (2007), raising uncertainty
- Housing demand not linked to site specifics
- No approved final plan exists
Generated by qwen3-30b-a3b-64k:latest on Dell 5820 RTX 3090 (Ollama, qwen3-30b-a3b) from the fields, parcels, deals and context layers on this page, with no outside knowledge. It is regenerated when the record changes and has not been checked by a person. How it is made.
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Elsewhere on the web
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Multifamily screen
- already in play: under construction, approved, or sold to a developer with housing plans
- 330 acres
- housing in the record
Inputs: record fields (size, status) and county Census ACS 2018–2023 figures (growth, rent). How the points work. Not a recommendation.
History and original facts
| Acres | 330newtypes-extraction |
|---|---|
| Gross leasable area | 3,000,000 sq ftnewtypes-extraction reported |
| County | Albany County |
| Census division | 2 · Mid-Atlantic |
| Notes | Draft from Wikipedia, model-extracted, unreviewed: The W. Averell Harriman State Office Building Campus, an office park built in the 1950s-1960s, is proposed for redevelopment and reinhabitation with housing, office, retail, hotel, and data center uses. |
Not yet recorded: year opened, original developer, retrofit year. Know it? Tell us.
Background
The W. Averell Harriman State Office Building Campus is an office park in western Albany, New York, United States that houses sixteen New York State Government office buildings. The land totals roughly 330 acres (130 ha) and over 3 million square feet (280,000 m2) of office space, and about 7,000 state employees work there. The campus was built during the 1950s and 1960s in a suburban, car-oriented style bordered by an outer ring road that cuts the campus off from the surrounding neighborhoods. The campus is flanked by Washington Avenue to the north, Western Avenue to the south, University at Albany to the west, and New York State Route 85 to the east.
Excerpt from Wikipedia (authors and history), CC BY-SA 4.0. May be older than the record above.
Timeline
- 2003 The plan was originally envisioned in 2003 as a bold move to completely eliminate the ring road, demolish the existing buildings, and construct a hotel,…
- 2006 Columbia Development purchased 12.6 acres of surface-parking north of Washington Ave for $4.2 million to add to its growing Patroon Creek Corporate Center.
- 2006 Buildings 1 and 1a were slated to be demolished in 2006 as part of that Albany Plan, funded with the proceeds from the parking lot sale to Columbia Development.
- 2007 That far-reaching plan, however, was scrapped by Governor Eliot Spitzer in 2007.
- 2010 Columbia Development will begin with just a five to 15-acre parcel in the northwest corner of the campus and has a one-year window starting in 2010 to market…
- 2015 As of 2015, the buildings have been demolished.
- 2016 In July 2016, New York State released a Request for Proposals for a 27-acre part of the Harriman Campus for sale to private investment.
Sources
- Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
8 quoted sentences
W. Averell Harriman State Office Building Campus
The plan was originally envisioned in 2003 as a bold move to completely eliminate the ring road, demolish the existing buildings, and construct a hotel, commercial, residential, and high tech office space all integrated with the surrounding neighborhoods.
In 2006 Columbia Development purchased 12.6 acres (5.1 ha) of surface-parking north of Washington Ave for $4.2 million to add to its growing Patroon Creek Corporate Center.
Buildings 1 and 1a were slated to be demolished in 2006 as part of that Albany Plan, funded with the proceeds from the parking lot sale to Columbia Development.
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