All Over Albany

Central Warehouse was built in 1927 as a “cold and dry” storage facility in the days before retailers and distributors maintained such facilities on their own. The 400,000-square-foot behemoth once held enough frozen foods to feed the Capital District a few times over, but it's been largely vacant since at least 1990. The building has been controversial since the 1980s, when a businessman and philanthropist named Richard Gerrity owned it. The deeply religious Gerrity painted a huge “Year of the Bible” sign on the building in 1983. The redecoration drew the wrath of the state Department of Transportation, which argued that the sign's size made it a clear violation of the federal Highway Beautification Act. The DOT finally prevailed over Gerrity's C.W. Associates in an out-of-court agreement, and the sign was removed in 1987. C.W. Associates declared bankruptcy in 1995, and the building passed to Trustco Bank, which acquired the property at a foreclosure auction in 1996 before selling it to Frank Crisafulli, a retired owner of a food distribution company. Crisafulli bought the in 1997 for $1 plus back taxes that added up to $120,000; he sold it to the first owner you mention above.

... said Steve Barnes on Apr 10, 2009 at 2:33 PM | link

Thanks Steve!

... said Mary on Apr 10, 2009 at 2:36 PM | link

Thanks for posting the pics (from my Twitter?).

Let me link to Kim and Bennett pictures as well, we had a really good time exploring this place together on this perfect day, and we have different shooting styles.

I was contacted by a few urban explorers since then for "directions" (Paul, Bob, Michael, Justin, etc.), and I think they will post what they have once it's ready. I like that they shot the exact same doorway as we did a week earlier. Do you know how many doors there are in this building? :) A lot.

We are definitely curious about the history and anecdotes associated to the warehouse. When it was operating at full capacity, it must have been quite the beehive.

... said -S on Apr 10, 2009 at 2:37 PM | link

This site is awesome. It always picks out the exact, specific things I'm curious about... I remember back when this building it had stuff painted on it. (Never remembered what, I was a little kid!) There's gotta be something useful that this building can do other than be demolished. Sure, it's an eyesore, but can't that be fixed?

... said Justin on Apr 10, 2009 at 2:43 PM | link

Fortunately or unfortunately, the Central Warehouse will be an eyesore for a while yet. It costs much more to rehab than it would be worth, and costs much more to tear down than the lot would be worth (I believe I remember reading that demolition would cost about $4 million and the lot would only be worth around $1 million).

It would take a philanthropist or massive subsidies/grants to make any work on this place financially sensible. Which is sad, because it's one of the first things that people see when they're coming into Albany from 90 or 787.

... said B on Apr 10, 2009 at 2:49 PM | link

They should knock it down and put in a park. With swing set, a volleyball court and an amphitheater. And then do Shakespeare in the park.

... said abby on Apr 10, 2009 at 2:53 PM | link

@Steve: thanks, great infos! I wish somebody had a picture of this "Year of the Bible" sign. $120,000 in 1997, wow. Someone should buy it just for the fantastic view of Albany you get from the roof :)

... said -S on Apr 10, 2009 at 2:53 PM | link

When will AOA stop circle jerking every time Sebastien takes a picture?

... said the fuj. on Apr 10, 2009 at 3:05 PM | link

How come every time S takes a photo there is a post about it?

... said anon on Apr 10, 2009 at 3:06 PM | link

When it stops being so gratifying, fuj. Stop being jealous and join in on the action, unf unf unf.

... said B on Apr 10, 2009 at 3:16 PM | link

At least before the economic slowdown, there were redevelopment plans in the works for the warehouse. Interesting thing is that there's a nearly identical building in Toronto that was turned into condos and retail.

From a Times Union story I wrote in 2007:

"A group calling itself CW Montgomery LLC purchased the building in May for $1.4 million and already has met with city officials to discuss its plans. CW Montgomery is associated with Axiom Capital, a downtown Albany investment firm. Charles Cronin, Axiom's founder, this week declined interview requests.

Michael Yevoli, Albany commissioner of planning and development, said the investors are at the "very preliminary" stages of deciding just how to adapt the building.

There is, however, a successful redevelopment model for investors to follow: A nearly identical warehouse in Toronto, built a year earlier than Central Warehouse and believed to have been constructed by the same developer.

Converted into a mall and residential complex in 1983, the complex, Queen's Quay Terminal, is credited with sparking development in its lakefront neighborhood.

Albany officials hope the Central Warehouse could do the same here. Saying the redevelopment of such a prominent building could send a potent symbolic message, they are especially pleased the investors are eyeing the development of something central Albany sorely lacks: retail."

... said Chris Churchill on Apr 10, 2009 at 3:16 PM | link

@thefuj: I don't do bar mitzvahs or weddings, but I should totally do circle jerking pics, thanks for the tip. Want in?

... said -S on Apr 10, 2009 at 3:23 PM | link

Circle jerking is pretty much what I was always afraid was going on in that warehouse.

Instead of hating him for going someplace I wouldn't I was thinking of making a request. Could you do the abandoned Bab-O factory next, Sebastien?

... said CJ on Apr 10, 2009 at 3:33 PM | link

@the fuj & anon: I would say it's probably because he is a fantastic photographer and takes amazing photos that give a different perspective on things. His photos are fun, well composed and usually have a great these whether it be an unknown building or a fun game of find the gnome. They also start great discussions in the comments that keep readers/viewers interested and informed. They have obviously posted photos by other photographers as well (ie. Kim) so it's not just him.

The offensive comment is completely unnecessary and surely not in the spirit of this blog. I suggest you take your negativity and stick it elsewhere. Comments like that come off as shear jealousy and make you sound like an idiot.

... said Emma on Apr 10, 2009 at 3:34 PM | link

I read that article Chris, it was great. But it also seems like the property has changed hands multiple times in the last two decades or so, with each new owner saying they want to look into redevelopment, but shunting it off to the next person once they realize what will go into the project. Here's hoping.

... said B on Apr 10, 2009 at 3:40 PM | link

@CJ....if the abandoned Bab-O factory is the building I am thinking of, be aware that it is still owned and occasionally used by the company I work for. We moved from that place only last November up to Troy. Not sure it is the same building but I was told while I worked there by a local that it was once the Bab-O factory. We are now in the old Quandt's Brewery Building (most recent commercial use was as a Boardmans) on River St. which has been a fun place to get to know.

On the Sebastien photo topic...I love that he is so actively documenting the area and find his photography well worth the space it finds on AOA!

... said Bob F. on Apr 10, 2009 at 4:11 PM | link

A friend of mine who works at the Albany Planning Council presented an idea to some committee to turn this warehouse into an aquarium! I love the idea and think it would be a draw to downtown.

... said Karen on Apr 10, 2009 at 4:12 PM | link

@Karen Interesting idea...but the image that passed my mind when I read it was of a big bowl alongside 787 with giant goldfish swimming around in it! Maybe I should stop work and go home!

... said Bob F. on Apr 10, 2009 at 4:19 PM | link

I've been in love with this building for years!

I talked to a few people I met while riding my bike around the area back in '07 and heard that the city was looking to reconnect Colonie Street (currently there road is bisected by railroad tracks) and that Israeli investors had been through and were involved in buying the property. Both claims are totally unverified (the study to reconnect Colonie street would be easy to verify) so take with a grain of salt.

More importantly, could you imagine living there?? You could walk back home from Wolff's after a couple giant mugs of Optimator!

... said -luke on Apr 10, 2009 at 4:21 PM | link

Oh man, I would love to see that building used as an aquarium instead of apartments/condos. Plus, I'd love to see an aquarium in Albany someday. I hope your friend's idea goes far :)

... said Paul on Apr 10, 2009 at 4:24 PM | link

@Bob: I've to say, I don't know the Bab-O factory. Update: CJ explained to me: the hulking beast on Broadway, just south of the U-Haul building and highly visible along 787, is the former Bab-O (B.T. Babbitt) factory.

If it's a factory and there is pigeon crap by the metric ton, then yes, I'm sure we will try to explore it. Winter was a bit long, exploration will resume shortly. In the meantime, no booby-trapping the place, thanks.

... said -S on Apr 10, 2009 at 4:40 PM | link

Some of the photos look like the interior of the Titanic without water...creepy!

... said Pam on Apr 10, 2009 at 4:43 PM | link

Leave it up, rehab it with the money we get from Albany police officer's drunk driving fines. Tear down 787. Turn the empty space where the highway used to be into the riverfront park it should have been. Build a minor league baseball stadium with the newly done-over warehouse as the backdrop. Build stores and an extended downtown around it, a la Coors Field in Denver and Camden Yards in Baltimore. You're Welcome.

... said Save Pine Hills on Apr 10, 2009 at 4:57 PM | link

@ Save Pine Hills - add in the Schenectady cop's fines and the financial crisis could end.

... said Barold on Apr 10, 2009 at 7:15 PM | link

haha, i just got cuffed by apd for checking out the insides of the buildings.
thankfully i didn't get arrested, even though nothing would materialize since the owners are awol.

dont be stupid!

... said andrew on Apr 10, 2009 at 7:28 PM | link

I live close to this place, have walked passed it a million times.....and never gotten in, so thanks for the pic, now I can put my curiosity to rest.
@Luke...I'm one of the lucky fellows that does live close enough to the Biergarten to walk it home, it makes me love myself for moving to the bottom of Clinton a few years ago.
Has anyone spyed any gnomes in the building?.....and whats up with them, I havent heard lately.
There is also a real rad church a block away from there (N.Pearl), complete with a sweet rectory....you can barely see either of them now due to all the ivy.
Thanks again for the read and pics.

... said JVG on Apr 10, 2009 at 8:02 PM | link

@abby hahahaha nice Parks & Recreation quote from last night. well played.

... said leigh on Apr 10, 2009 at 8:24 PM | link

"The Federal Highway Beautification Act?!?!?!" Why would a "Year of the Bible sign" draw the state's "wrath?"
I should have known the government was somehow responsible for this eyesore. But hey, I suppose a massive vacant building resembling something in the slums of Sarajevo is better than a maintained and functioning building with a sign offending some atheist somewhere. What a disgrace.

... said Luke on Apr 10, 2009 at 10:23 PM | link

I hope you're kidding, andrew... :(

As andrew said - Don't be stupid, people! Even if the building is not in use, it's still trespassing, and you're taking a risk going onto the property or into the buildings. Not to mention the plethora of other dangers that can lie inside these kinds of buildings. Don't do it if you don't know what you're getting into!

I'm not sure why AOA even posted this complete with a location map and everything. It's just going to get people in trouble, draw attention to the building, and get the place sealed up, which totally works against urbexers anyway. I appreciate the link to my photos, but this isn't the way I'd prefer them to be referenced.

... said Paul on Apr 11, 2009 at 12:00 AM | link

Surprise, surprise, another vacant building in Albany with MIA owners. It's tempting to demand these guys live in the buildings they purchase for a little while, but maybe I've seen the movie, The Super, one time too many.

I'm a little envious of the urban explorers. Great pictures!

... said Carrie on Apr 11, 2009 at 12:07 AM | link

@CJ and -S I think I know that Bab-O building and no, it is not the same place where I worked until November...is this the building you refer to?

http://forgingahead.my-expressions.com/archives/2769_1498614844/107343

This building was on the opposite side of the tracks from where I worked. Before the grade crossing was closed, it would have been the corner of 4th Ave and Broadway.

... said Bob F. on Apr 11, 2009 at 7:52 AM | link

@Bob F. -- I assume all these buildings are owned by somebody, and trespass is trespass, so you don't need to worry about me going in. I have too much respect for the power of decay to want to find out if a floor is intact.And just stopping in that neighborhood with a camera tends to bring unwelcome attention.

@JVG -- I would love to be able to shoot even the outside of that beautiful church on N. Pearl, but ditto on the neighborhood conditions.

... said CJ on Apr 11, 2009 at 8:04 AM | link

Actually what's really to blame are absentee owners, the place has not been "in use" in years. It has changed hands from one speculating real estate developer to another, and in the meantime the interior crumbles more and more, meaning it costs more and more to rehab it, meaning the cost:profit ratio shrinks further every year. Because it has been left abandoned for so long, it is no longer profitable to either rehab or tear down the structure. The Central Warehouse will be with us in its current incarnation for a long time unless someone with a lot of money to lose intervenes.

... said B on Apr 11, 2009 at 8:40 AM | link

I remember when they closed the place down but still kept the cooling machinery running. The city was pretty certain the pipes had cracked with age and the only thing preventing a cloud of ammonia gas was a layer of ice.

Sure, you could make it into condo's, but would you or anyone you know really want to live there? That part of Albany is ROUGH.

... said Eric on Apr 11, 2009 at 12:22 PM | link

Great photos, Sebastien... I love this urban decay stuff.

... said James Cronen on Apr 11, 2009 at 1:02 PM | link

@CJ: we checked the Bab-O building today, and it's seriously locked. You would have to do more than "trespassing" to get in...

... said -S on Apr 13, 2009 at 1:17 AM | link

If one would want to get into this "Bab-O" building, I'd suggest, in this order: a crowbar, a bottle jack, thermite, and a great lawyer.

... said B on Apr 14, 2009 at 12:33 AM | link

Thanks for posting these. The difference between an Eyesore and an icon? Age. The building has been a part of the Albany skyline for over 75 years. With a creative redevelopment scenario, and attention to detail for exterior rennovations, this building could be the crown jewel of albany's few adaptive re-use buildings.

... said daleyplanit on May 20, 2009 at 12:45 PM | link

I ran into a guy who was entering the fence around the Central Warehouse this morning. I asked him what the story was, and he told me that his company Mobile Metal owns the place and they going to tear it down in "about six weeks." Very sad. It's an eyesore, but for some reason I still love it.

Mobile Metal must of filed with the city to demolish the building, maybe I can find out more concrete details tomorrow at City Hall.

Back when I had a life I wrote briefly about crowdsourcing a development here in the city (http://www.beauxalbany.com/2009/02/crowdsourcing-new-downtown.html) and although I explicitly mention new construction, I always pictured doing a massive rehab at the Central Warehouse. Something about that building screams potential, and that rail line; oof, big project but it could be amazing!

... said Luke Gucker on Oct 13, 2009 at 4:14 PM | link

Tearing down the Central Warehouse?, that's big news, it's a huge huge building. Please keep us posted, we will go take photos of the demolition.

... said -S on Oct 13, 2009 at 5:16 PM | link

So, end of November this place is supposed to go down. I'll believe it when I see it; the building has been through several hands in the last two decades with no change, except for the additional deterioration that comes with time.

"tear[ing] it down" would almost certainly require a demo, I can't see how it could be dismantled like the Wellington was. The top eight floors have exterior walls two feet thick.

I'm not sure how I would feel about losing the Warehouse. There's no hope of it ever being rehabilitated; not only is it just too far gone, it's not the right type of building. There are only four windows on most of the floors, they're portholes more than windows. It's an eyesore, and something better could definitely go in the space, but I think we all know that anything built there would just be a pet project of Jerry's to funnel funds from the city to his friends' pockets. It's almost worth keeping around in its current state as a sort of reminder, of many things.

... said B on Oct 26, 2009 at 3:43 PM | link

I've always thought someone should set up scaffolding for a week and let the people of Albany decorate the building however we see fit. Rinse and repeat every few years to keep things interesting. Then fund-raise for the cause and remodel the inside floor by floor into an art gallery.

It would be good all around; Albany gets the building completely graffiti'd for free by locals, it changes from an eyesore to an art installation, the move is picked up by newspapers across the country, and overnight Albany becomes the forward-thinking artistic center of the world.

Or just tear it down... whichever.

... said Emily on Oct 26, 2009 at 4:32 PM | link

Demolition?!?!?! A total surprise. It seems to me it would cost more to tear it down and rebuild than simple build on an open site. Really odd - I rally want to hear more. Last news on the building I was aware of was that a NYC-based developer was looking into making a go of redevelopment.

... said daleyplanit on Oct 26, 2009 at 5:04 PM | link

@daleyplanit: it's a rumor for now. My secret hope is that they blast it. But not until the "Ghost Hunters" get in. Then *boom*.

... said -S on Oct 26, 2009 at 6:26 PM | link

Ok, I got another rumor update. I ran into more guys coming and going from the warehouse and when I asked one of them about demolition he said that it wasn't in the plans since the building is in "great structural shape." He said they were just cleaning the whole place out. Kinda frustrating getting conflicting stories.

I apologize for the unreliable nature of this information, I just walk past the building where I park if I drive to work. I'm still hoping to get to the building department in city hall and see what I can dig up, but I've been kinda busy recently.

I can't really see them demo'ing this place. It would be well over $1M to do, not to mention the potential disruption to the very nearby rail lines. And for what? A few acres in an isloated corner of the Industrial North End? One Mil plus for 2K worth of bare land?

This the kinda project I wouldn't feel bad sicking BBL on, at least they could pull it off.

... said Luke Gucker on Oct 27, 2009 at 11:30 AM | link

@ luke

I have 10-15 "dream propeties" I've been keeping tabs on that I'm dying to see redeveloped.

- The Central Warehouse
- Jefferson/Swan St. Firehouse
- New Scotland Armory
- Third Precinct Police Station, 222 North Pearl Street
- 755 Madison Avenue
- the corners of Washington and Quail
- 140 Hamilton St.
- 15-25 Warren St Warehouse...

Oh, the list is long....

... said daleyplanit on Oct 27, 2009 at 12:52 PM | link

stay away from 222NP, i'm gonna make that my house someday soon ;).

... said jvg on Oct 27, 2009 at 5:26 PM | link