363 Ontario Street Project To Reinvest In Pine Hills Neighborhood

March 1, 2018

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A redevelopment plan for Albany’s Playdium Bowling Center will reinvest $16.2 million into the 1.8 acre parcel located at 363 Ontario Street in Albany’s Pine Hills Neighborhood. The completed project will immediately double payments to local taxing jurisdictions, and is projected to generate $4.76 million in payments in lieu of taxes over the life of the PILOT. Based on the current assessment, the property would only have generated $1.13 million in taxes. The project will provide new neighborhood amenities, support eight permanent jobs and create an estimated 85 construction jobs. Construction could begin as early as this spring.

The current structure on site will be razed and the construction of three buildings totaling 58,500 sq. ft. of space will create 109 residential apartment units, 142 on-site parking spaces and 4,000-6,000 sq. ft. of retail space. The Ontario Street-facing building will include a café/shop retail space on the first floor, and a laundromat, maintaining a current resource for neighborhood residents. The project received its City of Albany Planning Board approvals in February with support from the Pine Hills Neighborhood Association.

At its March 1 Special Board Meeting, the City of Albany IDA board approved an application to provide financial assistance to 363 Ontario Street, LLC in the form of New York State sales and mortgage recording tax exemptions and real property tax abatements. Over the next 20 years, the property is estimated to generate $4.76 million to the local taxing jurisdictions, $3.6 million more than projected under the site’s current use.  At the end of the PILOT agreement, the project will generate approximately $700,000 annually in local taxes. During the course of the CAIDA proceedings, the Board was made aware that the Playdium Bowl facility would be closed after years of declining business and unsuccessful attempts to sell the property, regardless of whether or not the 363 Ontario Street LLC project were to move forward.