Update: Downtown Real Estate and Saratoga Casino

There has been quite a bit of activity in the downtown property world.  A huge amount of construction and renovation is planned for the corner of Broadway and Washington.

According to the Albany Business Review:

1. Fingerpaint’s founder and head has signed an agreement to purchase their headquarters, the old Border’s Books building, and its 55 space parking lot from a real estate firm in Buffalo.  The price was not disclosed.  The ABR reports that the company has been paying about $500,000.00 a year in rental fees.  It is encouraging that Fingerpaint has made this commitment to downtown.
2. A group from Brooklyn has purchased 421 Broadway for $3.3 million dollars from Mel Macy and Saratoga Inn LLC.  The building has three small retail shops on the first floor and seventeen apartments above them.  The same group bought the Roohan building where Putnam Market is housed.
3. All of this is in addition to the ambitious plans by the developer of the Adelphi Hotel to build a separate hotel and spa on Washington Street.  The new facility will back up to the rear of the Adelphi.
4. A developer has selected Bonacio Construction on what is described as a $50 million project involving the renovation of the Rip Van Dam and the construction of a related building around the corner on Washington Street.  The project will incorporate an Indigo Hotel with 96,000  square feet.  As best I understand it, the final building will wrap around the corner with the building housing Starbucks sandwiched in.

On the casino front Moody’s has issued an analysis of the explosive expansion of gaming venues.  The title does not encourage: “Cannibalization of Gaming Revenue Continues in Northeast.”  It reports that Saratoga Casino revenue has dropped 14% in the last twelve months going from $168 million to $144 million since the opening of the Rivers Casino in Schenectady.  This is before the 1.2 billion dollar Resorts World facility in the Catskills opens in February which the report predicts will also negatively impact Rivers.