A Moveable Feast to be Hosted at Renaissance Albany Hotel

/

This year’s A Moveable Feast on Saturday, April 4th will begin and end at an HAF Preservation Merit Award winning location – the Renaissance Hote! . Do you know the story behind this stunning building?

Lovingly restored by Columbia Development and is a testament to local historic preservation efforts. A highlight when entering the refurbished lobby, guests can look up and marvel at the 12 murals atop the high walls depicting local historic events and places — the Revolutionary War, the Erie Canal, etc. These magnificent murals, which date to when the building first opened as the Dewitt Clinton hotel in 1927, were restored along with the rest of the building.

The Dewitt Clinton Hotel was built in 1926-27 and opened in August 1927 two years before the Great Depression of 1929. While the first to sign the registry was Governor Al Smith, the actual first sleepover was by Dewitt Clinton, Jr., a feral black and white kitten who wandered into the hotel in August and made itself comfortable in a fourth floor bedroom. The kitten left on August 30 after giving up its room for a basket under the lobby desk.

The Dewitt Clinton Hotel quickly became the hotel of choice of legislators and politicians due to its proximity to the NYS Capitol.  Many a political deal was made at the hotel’s restaurant and bar until it closed in 1975.

Brandon Stabler of Columbia Development, who oversaw the recent renovation states “Every time I go downtown and see The Renaissance Hotel and Wellington Row alive and thriving, I feel an extreme sense of pride for the work we accomplished with HAF.  We worked together over many years sharing our interests and needs, and we created a plan that we could all call a success.  This sense of pride in accomplishment is something I hope everyone gets to experience in their life.”

 For more information on the history of this grand building and its life in Albany, check out this Times Union Blog post from 2015:  https://blog.timesunion.com/rittner/welcome-to-albanys-renaissance-hotel/5018/

We look forward to seeing you on Saturday April 4th! 

albbr-bar-0018-ver-clsc.jpg

The City Tackles Vacant Housing & Code Enforcement with New Grant

/

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