Stacks Espresso Bar Opens 2nd Albany Location Bringing New ‘Third Place’ Coffeehouse to Downtown

November 7, 2016

Click Here to View The Announcement Press Release 

Stacks Espresso Bar announced its new second Albany location at 488 Broadway in downtown Albany is open for business starting today, with hours every day, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. This morning at 11 a.m., Mayor Kathy Sheehan was joined by Capitalize Albany Corporation and the Downtown Albany Business Improvement District (BID) for an official ribbon cutting ceremony to welcome and celebrate Stacks’ second location in the City of Albany.

“We could not be more excited to join the downtown community and be a part of the amazing momentum downtown is experiencing,” said Stacks Espresso Bar owner Tyler Wrightson. “We immediately fell in love with The Arcade building. It has such great character and a truly fantastic location being adjacent to Maiden Lane Park and the walkway to the river. We couldn’t have done this without the assistance of the Sarraf brothers and Capitalize Albany Corporation.”

In celebration of the opening, Stacks will also hold a Free Drink Day on Thursday November 17th at the 488 Broadway address. All day long guests can come in and get any drink completely free, on the house. Multiple visits are encouraged, as long as event goers can handle the caffeine. Stacks will also be hosting its first TNT event (Thursday Night Throwdown) at its new Arcade address the same evening. At the TNT, local baristas compete in a Latte Art Competition to win bragging rights and a cash prize. The TNT is free to attend. In addition, Nine Pin Ciderworks will be attending and serving free drinks.

In early 2016, the City of Albany’s Capital Resource Corporation utilized resources set aside for strategic initiatives to fund the creation of two Capitalize Albany Corporation grant programs. In March Capitalize Albany launched its Downtown Albany Retail Grant Program aimed at downtown business attraction and retention. In May, Stacks announced it would be expanding operations and opening a second Albany location in downtown Albany’s Arcade Building a mile away from its location at 260 Lark Street. The grant awarded assisted this small business with build-out of the space, making the space practical for its operations.

Fulfilling an important implementation goal of the Impact Downtown Albany strategic plan, attracting a new “third place” coffeehouse was identified as a priority by the plan’s stakeholders, consultants and market research analysts. A third place is a community development term that describes a place which presents an environment stimulating daily activity or community and social gathering opportunities. It’s a place people choose to spend their time at other than work or home.

The new 1,700 sq. ft. space features a half circle bar, which is unique to the Albany location. The new location also provides the opportunity for Stacks to implement more educational events and programming focused on coffee. Stacks specializes in highlighting different brewing methods, different coffee regions and beans. It’s continuously bringing in unique coffees from diverse roasters. Customers can experience specifically chosen coffees in their most flavorful form while sitting at Stacks’ Slow Bar which focuses on manual brewing methods such as the “pour over,” considered by many aficionados to be the best way to brew an individual cup of coffee.

Stacks’ new location at 488 Broadway on the ground floor of downtown’s Arcade Apartments places Stacks Espresso Bar in the heart of downtown’s central business district and adjacent to Albany’s evolving warehouse district. The Arcade Apartments, currently fully occupied, is the largest completed project of its kind in downtown Albany to date with 60 market-rate residential units on its upper floors and street level retail space. The $10 million renovation of the 75,000 square foot, five-story building was led by Fairbank Properties. A project made possible through assistance provided by the City of Albany Industrial Development Agency.