These area projects hope for part of $800 million in state funding

PHOTOGRAPHER: Photo Provided

A rendering provided by Re4orm Architecture shows proposed changes to 136 State St. in Schenectady.

ALBANY — Capital Region economic developers are hoping to win a chunk of the roughly $800 million that will be handed out by the state Wednesday.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo will announce the annual Regional Economic Development Council awards at 11 a.m. during an event at the Albany Capital Center.

The REDC process has awarded more than $4.6 billion in funding to more than 5,200 projects since 2011. The state credits this strategy with creating or retaining 210,000 jobs in that time period. Critics have derided it as a “Hunger Games” competition that pits developers against each other.

In 2016, the 10 regional councils split $716.9 million in awards. The Capital Region came in second in the number of funded projects (116), garnering a total of $83 million in funding.

This year, the Capital Region Economic Development Council again submitted numerous requests for funding.

Among the priority projects is $2.9 million for the $15 million overhaul of the Stockade View Apartments at State and Ferry streets in Schenectady, an imposing building that previously was Breslaw’s Department Store. If that grant is approved, it would be a repeat for developer Re4orm Architecture, which in December 2016 won $2.33 million in REDC funding to help create the Mill Artisan District, a mixed-use project that is immediately west of the Stockade View Apartments project on State Street. The converted apartment building would become part of the Mill Artisan District.

The overall vision is for a culinary and craft beverage production and development center, with brewers, a distillery, culinary labs, an incubator kitchen and collaboration with nearby Schenectady County Community College.

An excavator tears into a building on lower State Street. (Peter R. Barber)

The Capital Region Economic Development Council covers Warren, Washington, Saratoga, Schenectady, Rensselaer, Albany, Greene and Columbia counties. The other priority project funding requests it submitted for REDC consideration are:

$5 million toward the $46.5 million redevelopment of the former Starlite Theatre site on Route 9R in Latham, by The Galesi Group of Rotterdam.
$2.9 million toward a $14.5 million advanced manufacturing training facility for HVCC in Troy.
$2.5 million toward the $29 million revitalization of the Palace Theatre in Albany. The money would pay for repairs to the historic theater’s infrastructure; improvements in patron access; enhancement of stage and backstage services and a new loading dock.
$2.4 million toward a $12 million renovation of the Schuyler Building in Albany for use by the University at Albany.
$1.79 million toward the $8.9 million Starbuck Island Development Project in Green Island.
$700,000 toward a $3.7 million expansion of Capital Roots’ Urban Grow Center in Troy.
$500,000 toward a $3.3 million expansion of Flowmatic’s factory in Glens Falls.
$500,000 for equipment for Digitalfabshop in Hudson.
$400,000 toward expansion of services and amenities at West Mountain Ski Area in Queensbury. Private capital would cover the remainder of the $2 million cost of the work, which is projected to create 59 jobs.
$300,000 toward Craft NY Supply Chain, a $3.3 million proposal to create a craft beverage supply operation on a farm in Moreau.
$225,000 toward a $1.13 million renovation of an old schoolhouse in Hudson.
$150,000 toward a $750,000 streetscape project on Broadway in Albany.
$131,680 toward a $660,000 welding and HVAC program at Capital Region BOCES.
$120,000 toward a proposed $600,000 microbrewery in Chestertown.
$100,000 for architecture and engineering for the conversion of Albany County’s former Ann Lee Nursing Home in Colonie into a full-service campus for homeless veterans proposed by the group Soldier On. Other government agencies would provide $400,000 for the study.
$85,000 toward a “Maker Space” at the Hillside View project on Craig Street in Schenectady. The proposal by the Albany Barn would assist creative startup businesses and offer employee training programs.