Albany-area state lawmakers held a town hall Thursday night to answer questions about the future of a state office complex.
It was a standing-room only crowd at Albany's New Covenant Presbyterian Church as state employees and residents sought to learn more about the Harriman Campus and Wadsworth Labs Project.
The Harriman Campus is home to several state office buildings, the University at Albany’s ETEC campus, and a state laboratory.
Senator Pat Fahy and State Assemblywoman Gabriella Romero are supportive of legislation that would require the state to develop a plan to repurpose seven acres of the 27-acre Wadsworth parcel.
Fahy, a Democrat who represents the 46th district, says with a $1.7 billion project underway to build a new Wadsworth Lab at the uptown campus, she wants the project to have a maximum public benefit.
“We need to make sure there is a multiplier effect, and we are growing businesses to spin off of that, as well as the retail to support the tax base of Albany, but also for our residents to have a place to shop. Housing could be a part of it. That's again, why you need a master plan.”
The Senate passed Fahy's legislation last year, but it failed to gain traction in the Assembly.
The Wadsworth Laboratory consolidation project would move several labs across the Capital Region into one larger lab, to be built by 2030.
Romero, from the 109th Assembly district, says as Albany’s downtown prepares for $200 million in redevelopment investment from the state, uptown needs a refresh.
"We want all of Albany to flourish and bring people from downtown to uptown, especially, is a great part about revitalizing our uptown area as well, not only bringing businesses and pharmacies and residential but bringing you know young people and 'urbancy' and excitement.”
The lawmakers want to transform Harriman from its current design, which they say was developed for the "car culture" of the 1960s.
The campus features a sea of parking lots and a ring road that cuts off the campus from the surrounding neighborhood.
The lawmakers want Empire State Development and the State Office of General Services to create a plan that would designate seven acres for mixed-use development and limit fencing around the lab itself.
Again, Fahy.
“We are supportive of the lab, but we are saying, you’ve got to give something. Why bring 1000 workers, many of whom were downtown right now. We know downtown's hurting,” Fahy said. “You're taking 800 out of downtown. We need their tax dollars. We need them to stop at a restaurant, coffee, some retail. We need them to start spin off businesses. So that's hence the seven because we have a couple of 100 other acres to work with. So, the redevelopment is for all of the campus, not just those 27 acres.”
Both Fahy and Romero hope the project is included in this year’s state budget, which will be detailed by Governor Kathy Hochul next week.
WAMC has requested comment the Office of General Services, and the state Department of Health.
