New $200M plan could bring first downtown Albany office tower in 20 years

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)–Downtown Albany hasn’t seen a new state of the art office building in 20 years, but that could change soon. A major law firm and a local developer are hoping to bring new jobs and new life, back to the heart of the city.

Whiteman Osterman & Hanna has been searching for a new home for their growing law firm for years. After exploring multiple options, the firm says downtown Albany is the perfect fit.

“We have throughout our history branded ourselves as practicing at the intersection of government and business. And we can’t really envision ourselves as a law firm that isn’t located in Albany,” said Robert Schofield, Managing Partner with Whiteman Osterman & Hanna.

This project was something the firm already felt like they needed to do, however Governor Hochul recently just announced $200 Million dollars in funding available for downtown revitalization. This would support new development projects that bring jobs, housing, and economic activity and the firm believes it can do just that.

“They want to bring people down for living, which the city has been, you know, relatively successful in building. But we also need jobs down here to keep them down here during the day and to support the economy. This fits right in,” said Schofield.

If this project goes through it will bring 200 plus employees from the firm’s 3 other locations under one roof in downtown Albany.

705 Broadway is the address for the future, class-A office building. According to Kevin Prunty, the Vice President of Real Estate at First Columbia. This project is more than just about housing the law firm. It’s going to be having a bigger impact on the downtown Albany area, including helping some of the city’s current challenges. 

“This project is a mixed-use project. So, Whiteman Osterman & Hanna is going to be a tenant to the office building. We’re going to be doing 56 units of apartments and then also some ground floor retail, including a restaurant and a cafe as part of this development,” said Prunty.

Albany has been facing a housing issue for some time now. The job growth has been increasing but slowly over the past years according to the Department of Labor. 

“This is the right time to kind of check all the boxes that they’ve been looking for,” said Prunty.

Out of the funding from the Governor’s plan, they would need $10 million dollars to develop the site along with some other amenities. As for moving forward, “We’re working with the mayor’s office and planning department. We’re working with the county; we’re working with the state. So, there’s a lot of moving pieces to kind of get a firm timeline here. But our end goal is to be, you know, having the tenant in there,” said Prunty.

However, there are many other developers who also have ideas for the downtown area and may want some of that funding too.

“I certainly am aware of other people who have great ideas for downtown. And to the extent that there’s a limited pot of funds, I’m sure we’ll be competing with some of those. But I think this is a project that actually leads to jobs staying in the city and new jobs coming down to the city and so I think it really will compete well,” said Schofield.

If received the funding and support, they can see this project being done by 2027.