New York Governor Kathy Hochul was at the Central Warehouse Tuesday to kick off the demolition of the city of Albany's most notorious eyesore.
With Albany County Executive Dan McCoy at her side, Hochul announced the beginning of a project that would redefine the city skyline, open up the waterfront and encourage construction of new housing and new business.
Down comes the Central Warehouse Listen to @WAMCNews pic.twitter.com/jJBLCKjjlP
— Dave Lucas (@davelucas) August 19, 2025
The Central Warehouse has sat empty since the 1990s. It changed hands several times over the years. Many attempts to repurpose or rehabilitate the nearly century-old former cold storage facility have fallen flat. Albany County purchased the warehouse in January for $50,000. Last month, some remaining legal hurdles were cleared.
Standing outside the long-abandoned 400,000 square foot building, the Democratic governor recalled her thoughts when she drove through the area months ago.
“ I called up none other than my budget director, Blake Washington. I said, Blake, how much is it going to cost to take that damn building down? And of course, he gave me a number about 10 million. And of course, it's up to almost 12 million but let's begin to tear down this building, starting here today. No more false starts, no more false attempts, no more broken promises. So the crews are going to start,” said Hochul.
Two Long Island firms, Gramercy Group and LiRo-Hill, are handling the demolition.
McCoy projected it will take five to six months for professionals to remove the asbestos, the first step in re-imagining and revitalizing downtown Albany and the riverfront area. He gave credit to Albany’s Western neighbor for providing a redevelopment model.
"If you really look at how Dave Buicko redid Schenectady and the casino and with the condos and apartments. He did a beautiful job. We need to marry that, because we're right on the Hudson. He's on the Mohawk. We're on the Hudson. More convenient. So we need to figure this out. And yes, it's going to cost some investment. This is just the foundation to many more investments that have to go into these properties down here," McCoy said.
The Democratic county executive believes the building will be totally demolished and removed by early 2027, leaving ample time for discussing plans to reimagine the 1.1-acre space.
Hochul is confident that government and community will "come up with a vision."
"I would be a big fan of different levels of you know, whether it's affordable housing, market rate, you know, bring it all here. I want to see more life down here. And this is what this area has been missing for a long time. People want to be in the city, but there's not enough apartments," said Hochul.
46th district Senator Pat Fahy, also a Democrat, proposes transforming the area by creating parkland over 787 and connecting the original Erie Canal Lock 1 underneath. She said this kind of redevelopment in the area can help reconnect Albany with the Hudson River.
"And when you bring water, we know from multiple multiple other examples, including most recently in Buffalo with canal side, canals, water are magnets, and unearthing such a critical part of Albany's history, let alone New York state's history with the Erie Canal, will just fuel this magic," Fahy said.
