Kiernan Plaza on the block
Redburn Development Partners has its eye on the downtown Albany's iconic Peter D. Kiernan Plaza, a former train station built in 1899. It was later built into a bank and office space, the Albany Business Journal is reporting. Fuller Road Management Corp., is owned by NY CREATES, a not-for-profit. Fuller Road, once the real estate arm of SUNY Polytechnic Institute, said the sale is part of realignment to focus on its core mission, the story says.
Plant-based bacon
Mushrooms to bacon is the plan. Or, more precisely mycelium to bacon. Atlast Food Co., a bit of a player in vegetable-based meats that use mycelium from mushrooms to make food, has changed its name to MyForest Foods Co.: “From the forest. For the future,” a story in the Albany Business Journal says. They recreate the forest via indoor farming, the story says. They hired 20 employees in December.
LG Village: 60th Winter Carnival begins Saturday
The 60th annual (mostly, but who is counting? They skipped last year because of the pandemic) Lake George Winter Carnival begins Saturday at 11 a.m. and will continue with weekend events for the duration of February, the Post-Star is reporting. Many activities are free and tickets for the busy events can be ordered by through the carnival’s website or Facebook page. Area restaurants will compete for “best chili.” Buy taste-test tickets online. Opening day parade, the committee is promising a big one, is 4 p.m. Saturday followed by fireworks at 7 p.m.
Electric City Comics turns 40
Bill Townsend, a Colgate University student in the 1970s, brought a box of comics he owned toa comics convention in Syracuse. When people asked to buy them, an idea for a business was born, the Daily Gazette is reporting. Townsend started at flea markets and made hundreds of dollars per weekend. On Feb. 22, 1982, with money from his mother and 3,000 comics for inventory, he opened Electric City Comics & Magazines, taking over the storefront in Schenectady of the previous comic book seller. Forty years later, Townsend is still there, and still selling comics, from the oldest comic book shop in the Capital Region, the story says.
Landlords want help with back rent
Home builder, real estate and property owner associations called for the state to put $2 billion toward rental assistance programs. They penned a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul and other leaders, the Times Union is reporting. Hochul revealed her executive budget proposal last month, and she included $2 billion for pandemic recovery, and the Legislature could decide how it is spent.. The letter urges the leadership to put the $2 billion back into the state’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program, which helped tenants pay rent during the pandemic, the story says.