Schenectady’s Center City may house YMCA

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The Capital District YMCA’s board is negotiating to locate the city branch into 30,000 square feet of Center City on State Street, said YMCA President J. David Brown.

“After approval of our board, much counsel and discussion, we have decided to move forward with Center City,” Brown said. “We will begin negotiations with the Galesi Group to lease space at Center City.”

Brown said the YMCA has no signed agreement with Center City owner, The Galesi Group, but the board hopes to get inside the State Street building within a year. He said YMCA’s building at 13 State St. remains open but is for sale.

The building provides housing for 180 otherwise homeless men, many with substance abuse and mental health problems. Officials are trying to move them from the building into alternative housing but no locations have been discussed publicly. They will not be relocating to the Center City site, YMCA officials said.

Galesi Chief Operating Officer David Buicko confirmed he is talking to YMCA officials. “It would be a great location if they decide to go there,” he said. “They would be a great amenity for downtown and it makes sense to be there.”

Brown said negotiations will focus on price and layout of facilities. “We will come to an agreement and we will move things forward. There is no time frame for negotiations, but my hope is if everything goes smoothly we could have a facility in the fall,” he said.

The YMCA is looking to lease an area formerly occupied by the indoor soccer field, a wide open space extending five stories high. It would install a wellness center, teen rooms, a gymnasium, multipurpose rooms, a day care center and locker rooms in the area.

Brown said the day care center would accommodate parents working downtown. “There is a need for it,” he said.

Metroplex Development Chairman Ray Gillen said the YMCA would provide a further boost to downtown. “It will attract members from other centers, it will have day care and it will be another feature for us to promote downtown,” he said.

The Center City site is half the size of a 60,000-square-foot facility once proposed to occupy a site in College Park, at 1520 Maxon Road. The YMCA planned to spend $8 million to build the facility there, but abandoned the plan when Golub Corp. decided it needed the entire College Park site for its corporate headquarters.

After College Park, the YMCA looked at other sites but eventually focused on Center City. Brown said, “For right now, this is our best option. We had other sites we were interested in.”

The Galesi Group is spending $12 million to renovate Center City, gutting the mammoth downtown structure. Galesi plans to rehabilitate the building and convert it into space for retail businesses, commercial and professional offices and apartments.

MVP, a Schenectady health insurer, signed a lease last month for 46,000 square feet at Center City. It is sending 200 employees down State Street to the Center City, under expansion plans.