EndangeredAlbany: Argus Press Building

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#EndangeredAlbany: Argus Press Building

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As many of you have seen, the Argus Press Building in the Warehouse District has been on our Endangered list for a number of years. The building has sat vacant for over 15 years. After being foreclosed on in 2018 by the County and sold back to the owner in 2019, it looks like there will finally be a bit of movement on this building. There was an article in the Business Review on January 28th about the building having been purchased by U-haul. U-haul stated they did not have immediate plans and that they were evaluating the building.

Historic Albany sees this movement as a good thing. U-haul and self storage is typically a soft use of buildings that is often reversible and has a low impact on the building. If they decided to move later on, this use of the building does not impede different uses in the future, but will hopefully lead toward better maintenance and care of the exterior of the building. We watch this project developing with interest.

See the Business Review article here: https://www.bizjournals.com/albany/news/2021/01/28/u-haul-buys-former-argus-press-building-albany.html

More about the history of the building can be found on our 2019 Dirty Dozen page here:

https://www.historic-albany.org/2019-dirty-dozen

The City Tackles Vacant Housing & Code Enforcement with New Grant

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The City of Albany has been awarded a grant of $1,000,000 which will focus on many different areas to combat and help solve some of the problem associated with vacant housing and code enforcement.

The grant will be used to implement the following:

  •  Mow to Own Program – A program that allows local residents to own vacant lots after showing they can take care of them for a year with no issues

  • 6-8 Pro-Active Demolitions – Following research by Harvard University on actions to reduce blight & gun violence, the City will acquire and proactively demolish 6-8 properties with community input and regulatory approvals

  • Good Neighbor School – An educational program to provide tenants & landlords with education and access to resources to improve the landlord-tenant relationship, in partnership with tenant & landlord groups

  •  An additional attorney to find property owners who are not complying with code violations and collect upon the judgments the City wins in housing court

  • Housing Services Advocate – a person to be hired to be a neutral third party for landlords and tenants in assisting them with education and accessing resources

  • Deep Dive Block Program – A program where the city brings City Departments and outside partners to specific blocks for a few hours to work and connect with residents to address their issues

  • Estate Planning Program – A program that identifies and proactively reaches out to at-risk senior property owners for end-of-life discussions about their property. Simple wills will be drawn up for those who need them to ensure the property does not become vacant upon their passing

 Not funded by the grant, but promised by the City in the application:

  •    Proactive Inspections using data-driven approaches

  •  Vacant Building Registry Improvements

  •  Amendments to the City’s Rental Dwelling Registry legislation

  •   Distribution of a Renters’ Bill of Rights, and other education materials on the Landlord-Tenant relationship