Schenectady

Shortly after the city's venerable Holiday Parade wraps up on Saturday, work will start on decontaminating and later demolishing a former furniture store on lower State Street to continue the ongoing rebirth of residential living in a revitalized downtown.

The 105-unit Electric City Apartments will provide a luxurious alternative for those who want to live in the center city, and will join nearly 400 existing or planned residential units, said Ray Gillen, chairman of the Schenectady County Metroplex Development Authority.

On Monday, Gillen said asbestos removal from the former Olender furniture building on State Street and Erie Boulevard will kick off next Monday to start the $20 million apartment project that will also include underground parking and nearly 10,000 square feet of street-level storefronts.

Once cleaned, the building will be torn down and a four-story apartment building will rise on the site, with rentals available starting in the summer of 2017.

Gillen ticked off more housing projects that should add hundreds of potential residents to downtown, from 220 units planned for the $300 million Mohawk Harbor casino project, to new or recently finished projects on Broadway near Proctors (39 units), the former MVP headquarters on Liberty Street (30 units), the Window Factory lofts on Green Street (16 units), a project at 118 Jay St. (16 units), two projects at Union and Barrett streets (19 units), a project at 245 Broadway (18 units), a project at the former Spencer Business School on lower State Street (11 units) and the former Foster Hotel on State Street (10 units).

"We are trying to build an interesting downtown area that provides live and work opportunities. We have arts, entertainment and technology clustered downtown and residential is now following, which is what we hoped would happen," said Gillen.

The Electric City project is a joint effort between HighBridge Development and Prime Companies. "We are very excited to be bringing new vitality and investment to lower State Street, one of the final steps needed to complete the revitalization of downtown Schenectady," said HighBridge CEO John Roth.

The project also is getting Metroplex support, and will put that part of State Street back on municipal tax rolls, said Gillen. The authority sold the property to the developers for $328,000, and in turn, provided about $515,000 in June to help the developers pay for the asbestos project, being done by Martin Environmental of Schenectady.

Gillen said a "payment in lieu of taxes" agreement calls for developers to pay $115,000 in annual property taxes once the apartments open; that will increase to $188,000 annually over time.

The state also kicked in, with Empire State Development providing a $1.2 million grant through Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Regional Economic Council.

"These new apartments will attract more people to live in Schenectady County and contribute to the vibrancy of our rejuvenated downtown," said Anthony Jasenski, chairman of the Schenectady County Legislature. "Working together, our Unified Economic Development Team continues the transformation of downtown Schenectady as we redevelop lower State Street."

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