Troy

Relics of the postwar boom in public housing, Buildings 1 and 2 of the John P. Taylor Apartments stand vacant and boarded up near what should be prime riverfront property.

Named for a Rensselaer County District Attorney who served a century ago, the 10-story brick and cinder block buildings are among the first things a traveler sees crossing the Troy-Watervliet Bridge into the city.

It's not a good first impression.

"It's a major gateway into the city," Steve Strichman, Troy's commissioner of planning and economic development, said Tuesday. And relief may be on the way.

The Troy Housing Authority is moving ahead with a request for qualifications, seeking a developer who would demolish the two buildings, which have been empty for at least a decade, and redevelop the site in line with the city's new Comprehensive Plan.

Russell Sage officials welcomed the news.

"Russell Sage College looks forward to working with the City of Troy in the development of the waterfront and advancing Troy's Comprehensive Plan," Christopher Ames, president of The Sage Colleges, said Tuesday.

Two other Taylor project buildings, both occupied, lie on the other side of the road that comes off the bridge and enters a tunnel under the Russell Sage College campus. One underwent a major renovation some years ago, and both are well-maintained and will remain, at least for now.

"We expect to release the request for qualifications sometime in May," said Thomas Hulihan, the authority's director of planning and program development. Hulihan said a developer could be selected "in a couple of months," with work getting under way later this year.

It's not clear what the entire project might cost. At one point the housing authority considered upgrading the two vacant buildings but balked at the $16 million price tag. The estimated cost to demolish the buildings, which together have 143 apartments, ranges as high as $2 million.

Meanwhile, Troy and Watervliet have begun studying improvements to the Troy-Watervliet Bridge, which cuts through River Street, separating the downtown portion from the area south of Ferry Street.

Drivers unfamiliar with the area who are heading south on River Street at Congress will end up crossing into Watervliet whether or not that was their intention.

The goal is to reconnect the two sections of River Street that the 1972-era bridge severed. "It would be important to reintroduce the connection," said Strichman.

The Comprehensive Plan envisions buildings at the bridge's entry to Troy to be "distinctive mixed-use buildings of a high urban design and architectural quality.

"Russell Sage College may be expanded as a joint development partner at this location to create a unique and signature arrival destination at the bridge crossing," the plan continues.

The Taylor project would take the city a step closer to creating an "eventual citywide riverfront esplanade" with waterfront access, said Strichman.

And the two abandoned buildings, with their smashed windows and graffiti, will no longer loom over the adjacent Russell Sage campus.