Mayor’s Surprise City Hall Reveal Sent My ROI Straight to ‘Ka-Ching!
Thank You Mayor Carmella Mantello
It was a typical early morning drive on the way to Troy, NY. I was heading up to document the plumbers installing the sewer main. It was an uneventful early morning drive up along the Hudson. As I approached Albany, gathering storm clouds began to release their payloads of rain across the landscape. If you are about to dig a big muddy hole in the street, thunderstorms make for an instant rain delay. This was our third attempt, and the delays were starting to make me lose my cool.
Rolling down the street toward the building looking for a spot to park, I see a long row of no parking signs built of roughly cut lumber. At first, it seemed obvious. A city utility crew was scheduled to cut the street, so the no parking signs were put up to keep the street clear, or so I thought. But oh boy was I wrong. I slow roll into a parking spot at the end of the street, put the car in park, and call the plumber to confirm. The plumber informed me that there was a sewer main break in another part of town, so the crews would be tied up for the day. He quickly mentioned that since we were first in line, the delay would push us back one more day.
I had come up to Troy for two reasons: the sewer main installation and to attend a planning board meeting where my project permit application was being reviewed. It was 8 a.m. and I had nothing to do until the 6 p.m. board meeting. I spent about five minutes sitting in the car tinkering with some of the old iPhones that I use to film the project, when I noticed the doors of the theater next door were wide open. Knowing that this theater had stood empty and unused since 1977, I could not contain my curiosity about what was happening next door.
In front of the theater, I noticed a young man wearing a dapper blue suit and newly shined shoes, a rare sight at an abandoned theater site. I walked over and introduced myself as the next-door neighbor and asked what was going on. Putting out his hand for a handshake, he introduced himself: "Hi, I'm Alex, the Director of Communications for the mayor of Troy. We're here today to announce city hall will be moving to Proctor's." I was thunderstruck. I was hoping that I would be lucky enough to have the building next door restored, but I thought it would take years, not months.
Taking to the podium, the mayor began to speak about the history of Troy's city hall and its current location in a converted 1917 textile factory, originally operated by Cluett, Peabody & Co., a firm known for their "Arrow" brand of collars and cuffs. Today, the last word you would use to describe Troy's city hall is "stately." Occupying a single floor in a large riverside industrial building, city hall lacks any sense of historical significance in such a unique town. While that may be okay for some, for a city described as "one of the most perfectly preserved 19th-century downtowns in the country," a grey concrete industrial building as a city hall does not make sense. With nearly 700 buildings, each a page in Troy's evolution from river port to industrial powerhouse, the search for a fitting home for city hall had come to an end.
As part of the transition, the city will acquire and renovate the Victorian theater space. At the end of the announcement, the audience and press were invited to tour the theater space and see renderings of the planned improvements. Walking through the space, I was struck by the infinite possibilities for reuse inside a space filled with architectural gems waiting to have their shine returned. A theater that once housed a crowd of as many as 2,500 people with three seating mezzanines is a pretty cavernous space. I finished the tour excited to watch the project as the once grand theater is brought back to life.
As you probably surmised by now, if city hall moves in next door and restores the largest commercial building on your block, future economic opportunities for your properties may dramatically improve. While there are times when bad news causes you to rethink your plans, our story shows that there are times when surprisingly good news does the same. While it is impossible to predict the future, if you don't buy the building next to the half-century vacant theater, you will never have the good fortune of being there when city hall decides to move in. It’s about picking properties that set you up for as many opportunities as possible. Sometimes it’s better to be smart, sometimes better to be lucky, but it’s always best when your smarts make you lucky.
Still buzzing from the echoing footfalls on that dusty theater floor, I realized something as I climbed back into my car that evening: delays aren't always detours; they're invitations. What began as a maddening rain-soaked wait for sewer mains morphed into a front-row seat to Troy's next big chapter. I went looking for clogged pipes and ended up face-to-face with a revitalized city hall, framed by opera boxes and pressed-tin ceilings. Sure, my permit hearing awaited at 6 p.m. (a story I will share in my next post), but it was Proctor's resurrection that stole my heart and imagination.
So, the next time you're marooned by permits, muck, or mercurial weather, explore, don't stew. Peek behind that locked door. You might just find your own city hall moment waiting in the wings.
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