Small Cafe Signals Major Growth in Sheridan Hollow | The Hungry Hollow

April 28, 2017

 

Marking a major milestone in the emerging neighborhood—The Hungry Hollow—a new restaurant that has been under development for four years celebrated its grand opening today. Located on Sheridan Avenue and Dove Street, it sits at the beginning of several blocks’ worth of new, owner-occupied affordable homes and rental apartments in Albany’s Sheridan Hollow neighborhood. The Hungry Hollow is a family-run restaurant open 6:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, serving a variety of breakfast and lunch options. The Capital Region Chamber’s micro-loan program which is supported in part by Capitalize Albany Corporation assisted the Café with financing.

Implementation of a comprehensive neighborhood revitalization strategy has redeveloped the Sheridan Hollow neighborhood into a mixed-use, mixed-income sustainable neighborhood of choice. In addition to The Hungry Hollow opening its doors two incredible new construction affordable housing projects, that when both are finished, will have built nearly 100 new affordable homes.

One component of Sheridan Hollow’s transformation—Housing Visions Consultants, Inc., a non-profit developer completed a project known as Sheridan Hollow Village in 2016, which created 57-affordable rental apartment units for families and individuals as well as 1,000 sq. ft. of community space and 9,900 sq. ft. of commercial space. The on-site management/community space and commercial space are part of two mixed-use buildings that include affordable housing on the second and third floors.  In total the new construction project established 17 buildings.  

Governor Cuomo’s support and the support of several development partners including the City of Albany Industrial Development Agency and Capitalize Albany Corporation ensures that the neighborhood maintains affordability and will catalyze investment for blocks in every direction. For Housing Visions’ project, support came from several partners including NYS Homes and Community Renewal, NYS Housing Trust Fund Corp., NYS Urban Initiatives, the City of Albany, Key Community Development Corp and Key Bank.

A second project nearing its completion in partnership with Housing Visions, Habitat for Humanity Capital District and the Touhey Homeownership Foundation is supporting the creation of these opportunities for affordable new construction home ownership, quality rental housing, retail and commercial investments, streetscape improvements, enhanced public safety and public park restoration within the neighborhood. Altogether, the combined projects will create nearly 100 new affordable homes, plus new commercial and office space for the neighborhood when all phases of Habitat for Humanity’s project are fully completed. 

Habitat for Humanity’s Phase 1, which included the construction of 10 single-family and 10 two-family homes, is complete. Phase 2, which includes the construction of 10 single-family homes, is underway. Three of which are currently online with the remainder set for completion this year.