Keep up to date with Historic Albany Foundation
Take the Tiny Houses in the Capital District Virtual and Driving Tour
/
Historic Albany Foundation’s “Tiny Houses in the Capital District” is live now! The tour is hosted on Clio, a free mobile app and website that uses GPS to share local knowledge about historic and cultural sites around the United States. It will feature additional information about the houses from the original “Spite Houses & Tiny Houses” Blog post that highlighted the unique, smaller homes in the city of Albany - as well as additional, similarly-sized buildings in Schenectady.
“Tiny Houses in the Capital District” adds two homes from the city of Schenectady to the tour. 216 ½ Union Street was built at some point in the mid 19th century, in the Victorian style, and is located in the Historic Stockade District. 135 ½ South Ferry Street is another historical home, built in 1803, that can be found right outside of the boundaries of the Stockade. The Stockade in Schenectady features historic homes built in the 18th, 19th, and 20th century, covering a vast array of architectural styles. The homes in Albany can be found in the Center Square & Hudson Park Historic Neighborhood, The Pastures Historic Neighborhood, The Washington Avenue Corridor Historic Neighborhood, and the Ten Broeck Triangle Historic Neighborhood in Arbor Hill.
More about Clio
Clio is a website that allows museums, historical societies, colleges and universities, and other organizations to create walking or thematic tours that share local history. Clio, as of late, features 37,487 historical entries from around the United States. The site can be accessed online or through a mobile app, which provides the information on entries for self-guided tours. Each of the seven houses on the “Tiny Houses in the Capital District of New York State” has their own entries. All of the entries were created with research that includes documents that can be found in the National Register of Historic Places, CRIS (Cultural Resource Information Center,) and the HathiTrust Digital Library.
Read or take the tour here >>
By Andrea Lurie
#WhereinAlbany - 282 Lark Street
/
This week’s #WhereinAlbany was three sister buildings on Lark Street by Hamilton. You might recognize them from the distinct, eclectic wood window hoods. The modified Italianate buildings are three stories (including the basement) and were built in 1869.
From the inventory sheet on Criss:
“One of 3 rowhouses built in 1869 for Ezra L. Pasco. Pasco was a merchant listed in city directories as selling a variety of items including stoves (1857); boots and shoes (1865) and fancy goods (1866). he lived at 148 Washington Avenue until 1871 when he moved to 320 Hudson Avenue.
In the 1890s this house was owned by Max Schnurr, one of several Schnurr’s to own meat markets in Albany. His market was at 89 Beaver Street” (now Amo La Bella!)
Well done to everyone who guessed correctly!
Update on Kenwood / Sacred Heart Convent / Former Doane Stuart School
/
At Historic Albany Foundation’s request, the City of Albany, namely Rick LaJoy, Director of the Department of Buildings and Regulatory Compliance, is overseeing the boarding up over 100 windows and 20 doors at Kenwood, Convent of the Sacred Heart campus on Southern Boulevard. The windows and doors were removed as part of a failed development project begun in 2018. It is imperative that this historic structure be buttoned up and not be exposed to the elements of another winter.
Sadly, even before that failed project, the campus has sat empty and deteriorating since the Doane Stuart School moved to Rensselear in 2009. HAF has worked with several developers over the years, however, none of those initiatives came to fruition.
A timeline of the past 13 years includes*:
2007
Doane Stuart School fails to reach an agreement to purchase the campus from the Sisters of the Sacred Heart
2009
Doane Stuart School relocates to Rensselaer
Michael Cleary makes offer then backs out
Property listed for sale again as developable land, notes the buildings could be demolished
2010
HAF lists on Endangered Historic Resources List, Preservation League of New York State list on Seven to Save
Michael Cleary makes offer again
2012
HAF hosts Davis Downing Symposium to draw attention to the architecture
2014
Mike Cleary attempts to put project together, sale does not go through
New York State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation tours building as part of initial phases for listing the building on the National Register, process stops when developer walks away from the project;
2015
Hospitality developer from New Jersey and another developer attempt to put projects together, but come to nothing;
Sonny Bonacio attempts to purchase Kenwood, then withdraws his plans for a $30 million, 125 luxury apartment project
2016
An anonymous developer attempts to purchase Kenwood
2017
Kenwood Commons, LLC owned by CEO Sandy Schaefer purchases Kenwood for $18 million
2018
Kenwood Commons, LLC proposes to develop a $500 million massive project on the 75 acre property including 13 apartment buildings with 1,700+ apartments, two hotels totaling 575 rooms, six clusters of townhomes totaling 305 units, in addition to retail and public space that would include an art gallery and amphitheater.
Kenwood Commons sues the City of Albany in an Article 78 proceeding filed with the Supreme Court in Albany County challenging the need for Planning Board review of its building permit application.
2019
Kenwood Commons, LLC project stops work and walks away as the developer owes millions of dollars in loan debt, overdue taxes, and $600,000 in contractor services to at least 15 businesses. It is interesting to note that the project did not seek tax breaks through the Albany Industrial Development Agency, nor did it acquire historic tax credits, which left financing up to developers.
Lender begins foreclosure proceedings on $5 million loan to Kenwood Commons, LLC.
HAF meets with the City of Albany Planning Department to request Kenwood be listed as a local historic site. Unfortunately this request was not granted due to the condition that a property needs to be seen from a public road or street, and Kenwood is located on a private road.
Kenwood Commons listed for sale for $60 million amid back taxes and contractor liens
2020
The City of Albany boards up windows and doors left open to the elements by Kenwood Commons, LLC for a cost of $42,000, which will be added to the current outstanding tax bill of over $2 million.
We are grateful to the City for talking the first steps in protecting a true historic landmark within the City of Albany. We will do additional updates as activities warrant.
For additional information on the history of this important property, please visit, https://friendsofalbanyhistory.wordpress.com/2018/04/27/kenwood-and-the-convent-of-the-sacred-heart-in-albany/
*This may not be an exhaustive list of attempted buyers and projects
Want to help us continue our advocacy work? Donate to our Giving Tuesday campaign here >>