The Business Review (Albany) - by Adam Sichko
The board governing the state’s Harriman office campus in Albany, N.Y., has given a developer more land to work with in the initial stage of a campus overhaul.
In November 2009, Columbia Development Cos. was awarded the rights to redevelop 140 of the 330 acres at the state-owned W. Averell Harriman State Office Campus. The remainder of the Harriman campus will continue to be used by state agencies that employ 7,300 people.
At an April 19 meeting, the Harriman campus’ board voted to give Columbia access of up to 20 of the 140 acres for its first stage of development. Initially, state officials told The Business Review they had planned to give the company between 5 acres and 15 acres to work with.
The state will lease the land to Columbia for about a year, giving the firm the chance to market the site to potential tenants. Terms of the lease are being negotiated.
The intent is for Columbia to eventually buy the initial parcel, and the other acres to be developed, from the state.
The board also voted that high-tech companies will be the only businesses allowed to locate in that parcel.
The votes were taken after the board went behind closed doors to discuss ongoing contract talks with Columbia. The state and Columbia have met four times, most recently last week, said Peter Wohl, president of the Harriman Research and Technology Development Corp.
To date, no memorandums of understanding (MOUs) have been agreed to, Wohl said.
The parcel in question is located next to the state Department of Labor offices on the campus, near Washington Avenue.
According to plans Columbia submitted to the state, a building of between 40,000 square feet and 60,000 square feet would be built once tenants have been secured.
The state is currently going through a mandatory environmental site review process which will likely last for nine months to a year. Groundbreaking cannot begin until the review is complete.
Throughout last decade, the state has pursued an ambitious plan to renovate the campus to attract high-tech companies and build retail shops and residential units. The initiative has stalled repeatedly amid changing state leadership, the recession, tight credit markets and the state’s own financial problems and budget deficits.
The lack of a state budget is the latest hurdle facing the Harriman project. Without a budget, the Harriman board is unable to hire a development adviser or pay for an updated appraisal of the Harriman campus land—a key part to the ongoing negotiations with Columbia.
The development adviser would be retained for two to three years, costing $250,000 in total. Wohl said he is “exploring different ways we can address this,” but he declined to discuss specifics before the board went into executive session.
asichko@bizjournals.com | 518-640-6818
The Business Review (Albany) - by Adam Sichko
Friday, April 9, 2010, 11:50am EDT | Modified: Friday, April 9, 2010, 12:28pm
The lack of a state budget has prevented officials overseeing the state’s Harriman campus to hire appraisers and advisers in the ongoing redevelopment process.The state’s 2010-11 fiscal year began April 1 without a budget. The state is operating on bare-bones, emergency spending plans that keep the lights on, until Gov. David Paterson and legislators hammer out a budget.
The lack of money means state officials have been unable to hire a development adviser or an appraiser, per requests for proposals (RFPs) issued earlier this year.
The appraisal, in particular, is key to ongoing negotiations with the developer chosen to work on the campus. The most recent land assessment was done in 2007—before the recession hit.
The board of directors for the W. Averell Harriman State Office Campus was initially scheduled to vote on winning bids this month, but that will no longer happen.
“As soon as there’s a budget, we can go forward with that,” said Peter Wohl, president of the Harriman Research and Technology Development Corp., which runs the Albany, N.Y., campus.
In November 2009, the Harriman board gave Albany-based Columbia Development Cos. the rights to redevelop 140 acres, or about 40 percent, of the 330-acre campus. (For more on the company’s plans, see http://albany.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2010/02/08/story9.html)
Throughout last decade, the state has pursued an ambitious plan to renovate the campus to attract high-tech companies and build retail shops and residential units. The initiative stalled repeatedly amid changing state leadership, the recession, tight credit markets and the state’s problems with multi-billion-dollar deficits.
The remainder of the Harriman campus will continue to be used by state agencies that employ 7,300 people.
The development adviser will help represent state interests in the ongoing contract negotiations with Columbia, in a retainer-like setup, Wohl said.
The appraisal, meanwhile, is crucial to the negotiations. Harriman land was last appraised before the recession rocked the real estate sector.
“We know the market has changed. Anyone alive with a pulse realizes it’s not as hot as it once was,” Wohl said.
In 2007, the Harriman land was assessed at between $300,000 to $400,000 an acre, Wohl said. He said it won’t be an issue if an updated appraisal reveals the land has lost some of its value.
“We still consider that property and that site some of the most valuable in all of Albany County,” Wohl said. “And regardless of the economic conditions outside, the improvements that will be made to the property will increase the value of the remaining acreage.”
Harriman officials are also seeking to hire a consultant to help with the environmental siting process, called the State Environmental Quality Review Act, or SEQRA. The law requires developers to identify, and address, the “significant environmental aspects” of whatever work is being proposed or permitted. It’s a process that often takes nine to 12 months to finish.
The Harriman board is scheduled to meet on April 19.
asichko@bizjournals.com | 518-640-6818