Albany Central Warehouse Owner Slapped with Yet Another Deadline

In the never ending saga of Albany biggest eyesore, the current owner of Albany's abandoned and decrepit Central Warehouse building has been given.... wait for it... more time.

The city set a date of September 16th saying all windows, doors and entrances must be sealed. All flammable materials must be removed, and the structure must be registered as a 'vacant' building.

This comes after chunks of concrete fell off the building's facade near the railroad track that runs next to it, prompting Amtrak to halt service to Western New York for several days. The City of Albany had crews come in and make temporary repairs to the outside of the building that will (hopefully) keep more of it from crumbling to the ground. The cost? About $150,000.

The building's owner, Evan Blum, bought the building back in 2017 and owes over $500,000 in back taxes. During that time the structure has continued to deteriorate. The County tried to foreclose on the property numerous times, but each time Blum has countered - and lost - in court. He most recently filed a lawsuit against the county on a federal level, hoping to keep the county from taking it over.

If the county does take control of the property, the plan is to sell it to a local contracting group, Redburn Development, who believes they can rehab the building into apartments, retail space and commercial space.

But really, will that ever happen? The hulking structure has been haunting the Albany skyline for decades while ownership changes and legal wrangling have hindered any possible progress. At this point it's laughable.

BTW, have you been on the 'Albany Skyway' yet? Here's a pic I took last weekend. This is your beautiful backdrop.

If you have the chance, get your pic taken with the Central Warehouse in the background, just pretend its Niagara Falls or something.