The second stage of the downtown residential initiative was understanding existing conditions and the potential re-use of targeted properties identified in the study. To pursue the recommendations of the Downtown Marketing and Leasing Strategy to create additional downtown residential units and to assist with relieving any barriers to development, Capitalize Albany Corporation developed a Residential Development Technical Assistance Grant program. Even though Capitalize Albany had the results of the 2002 feasibility findings that strongly indicated the market need for more units, the Corporation learned from a number of building owners that there was a perception that residential conversion of upper floors was too complicated and that the development process was too cumbersome to navigate. In an effort to combat that perception, in August of 2004 Capitalize Albany Corporation and the Community Preservation Corporation (CPC) committed $75,000 to fund the program.

The Technical Assistance program provided grant funding toward pre-development architectural/engineering services for the purpose of increasing residential development projects downtown. The architectural/engineering firm provided an Existing Conditions Report, conceptual floor plans for residential use, Building Code Review, and Preliminary construction cost estimates. The selected architectural/engineering firm had extensive experience with historic properties and expertise with interpreting the Building Code of New York State particularly Chapter K. The program reduced the financial risk for property owners to explore potential use for their space, where they may not have taken action without the funding. The program was designed to maximize the use of the building, increase the number of residential units, while increasing pedestrian activity downtown during extended hours. This program was utilized for 10 buildings, to identify actual candidates for redevelopment construction projects.