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| Architect's drawing of City Station North. |
City Station North is expected to be 90,000 square feet of office space and 100,000 square feet of residential space divided into 80 apartments in a seven-story structure.
The prior phases of the sprawling project by the United Group of Companies of Troy have turned a blah open space into an eye-catching development very much in keeping with the architecture of the city and the needs of RPI graduate students for off-campus housing. Unlike those, however, this part of the project will include residential space designed for families. The designers even envision, at least in the abstract, an urban grocery locating there, something many city dwellers desperately need.
The $55 million phase, which should take about two years to complete, will involve getting rid of a very ugly building at Congress and Sixth opposite the police headquarters that until recently was home to the Troy Educational Opportunity Center (EOC). In a good example of the ongoing revitalization efforts in the city, the EOC recently relocated to the Hedley Building on River Street, itself the conversion of an old factory into an attractive and bustling edifice.
All of which shows the very healthy mix of new and renewed buildings that continues to make Troy an ever-more-attractive place for new businesses and new residents, all of which help grow the tax base -- certainly something the city needs, given its current financial woes created by some very weak management.
Now, if we can just get our city government to do something about what makes this place Plywood City -- namely the boarded-up commercial and residential structures that so heavily punctuate our streets and neighborhoods -- we can begin crowing about the rebirth of a community. Until then, boarded-up buildings are daily reminders of failure.
Note: Back in 2002, I first tagged Troy with the nickname "Plywood City." You can read that commentary by clicking here.
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