Steamboat Square Towers & Townhouses
Preservation Studios is working with Edgemere Development and the Albany Housing Authority on a complete rehabilitation across four towers and six groups of townhouses. The towers were built in 1959 followed by the townhouses in the 1980s as part of renovations to the towers at the time. Owing to their importance to the overall development, the 1980s townhouses were deemed historic and are earning HTCs along with the towers. Units are being completely remodeled, windows are being replaced, and long mothballed floors in the towers are being brought back online for more housing.
Address
Rensselaer & Green Streets - Albany, NY
Estimated Rehabilitation Costs (QRE)
$225.7 million
Total Project Cost (QRE + Non-QRE)
$250 million
Square Footage
464,000
HTCs
$90.3 million
Timeframe
2020 to Present
Originally known as the Thacher Homes, the towers were modeled after the contemporary best practice in other cities of creating “towers in the park,” and were designed by architects Urbahn, Brayton, and Burrows of NYC. The complex was built in an area ravaged by urban renewal, with significant demolitions and the elimination of the historic street grid in favor of superblocks with open space. Facing continued decline in condition and considered intolerable by both residents and the surrounding community, the AHA began work on a major overhaul of the property in 1981 designed by architect Crozier Philippi. The towers were largely gutted, the apartments were enlarged, the blind corners were removed, and townhouses were added more akin to the residential fabric of the neighborhood as it was historically.
Preservation Studios facilitated the complete historic tax credit application process, including the National Register listing.
