Westgate Plaza (Albany, New York)

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Westgate Plaza is a large strip mall in the city of Albany, New York, located on Central Avenue. Westgate is considered the first mall in the Albany area, [1] and opened in 1957. [2] [3]

Contents

Tenants

Over the years, tenants have included:

Tenant NameDate Opened
JCPenney 1957 (closed in 1984, moving to Crossgates Mall) [4]
Barbizon Fashion Shops1960s (closed during redevelopment, then reopened) [5] (closed permanently after May 9, 1997) [6]
W.T. Grant1974 or earlier [7]
Albany Public Marketunknown - Became Scot's Lo-Cost for a time (this was their "warehouse" brand), then switched to Grand Union in October 1986 with the other Albany Public locations [8]
Land of Fabricsunknown [9]
Traditions Antiquesunknown [10]
National Savings Bankbefore October 24, 1986, became Key Bank February 1993 [11]
Big Dom'sbefore August 26, 1988 [12]
Westgate Piano & Organunknown [13]
Stylish Women Limitedunknown [14]
Card Timeunknown [15]
Albany Window Designbefore July 8, 1990 [16]
MSS Limitedbefore December, 1990 (planned to relocate to Builders Square Plaza in Colonie by January, 1991) [17]
Grand Union Approximately October 1986, as noted in the GU Page [18] closed before February 23, 1993 [19]
Woolworth's unknown, closed before February 23, 1993 [19]
Wheels April 23, 1992 [20]
Paper Cutter before February 23, 1993 [19]
Rose Dental Associatesunknown, moved before March 7, 1997 [21]
Harold L. Joyce headquarters (political campaign office)before September 15, 1993 [22]
Champion Factory Outletbefore April 13, 1994 [23] (closed 2004) [24] )
Price Chopper Spring, 1995 [25] (left Colvin Central Plaza) [26] (renovation around 2000) [27]
Fay's Drug before Spring, 1995 (left Colvin Central Plaza) - This location had been a Brooks Drugs that had closed prior to Fay's move. Later Eckerd, then Rite Aid until Walgreen's purchase of Rite Aid locations [26]
Westgate Barber Shopbefore April 22, 1995 [28]
Cohoes Savings Bank (branch inside Price Chopper)May 15, 1995 [29]
J.B.'s Theatrebefore June 18, 1995 [30]
Duane's Toylandbefore December 21, 1995 [31]
Empire Cellularbefore January 28, 1996 [32]
The Party ExperienceJune, 1997 company took over Paper Cutter in 1996 (liquidation in May, 1998) [33]
New Music Centerbefore July 25, 1998 [34]
Mini Mall Theaterbefore February 13, 1999 [35]
Capital District Equal Opportunity Centerbefore July 12, 1999 [36]
Key Bank February 1993, on taking over the National Savings Bank that was in the plaza (along with the rest of their branches [37]
American Institute of Japanese Karatebefore July 12, 2000 [38]
Mailboxes Etc.before November 18, 2000 [39]
Call to Pray Ministrybefore September 12, 2002 [40]
Mr. Subbbefore March 17, 2003 [41]
One Price Clothing Storebefore February, 2004 (closed by end of March, 2004) [42]
Payless Shoesbefore October 25, 2004 [43]
Fashion Bugbefore June 18, 2005 [44]
Dean's Incredible Ediblesopened Sep 15, 1980, the name changed to Dean's Natural Foods in 1994, and closed July 31, 2015
UPS Storebefore December 27, 2005 [45]
PCX Corp.after June 12, 2007 [46]
Horizons Management Associates LLC after June 12, 2007 [46]
A.J. WrightOctober 16, 2008 [47] (24,000 sq ft.) [48]
BEST FitnessUnknown

En lai restaurant

Campus Pizza

Record Town" "before 1982

Redevelopment

Plans were submitted to the city of Albany before February 23, 1993 for redevelopment of parts of the plaza. This would include demolishing the section that included the closed Grand Union and Woolworth's stores, as well as the still open Wheels and Paper Cutter stores, with plans to relocate the latter stores. A new section would be built on space occupied by the section to be demolished. [19]

By October 26, 1993, the redevelopment plans had been approved by the city of Albany. [5]

Ownership/Property Management

As of February 23, 1993, the plaza was owned by Russell Road Associates of Boston. On that date, the plaza was only 40% full and the owners were bankrupt. [19]

Nigro Cos. was managing the shopping center in October, 1993. [5]

Price Chopper purchased 2 acres (8,100 m2) from owner Russell Road Associates in 1993 at a cost of $3 million. This purchase allowed Russell Road Associates, bankrupt at the time, to jumpstart their reorganization. Price Chopper built an 82,500-square-foot (7,660 m2) store on the land for approximately $4 million. The building was sold to Mesirow-Heller and Price Chopper leased the building until they moved to the former ShopRite down the street in 2024 reopening as Market 32. In early 1997, Ruskin Investors of Northbrook, Illinois purchased the building from Mesirow-Heller for $9 million. Lease terms did not change as a result of the purchase. [49]

Boston Development Associates of Westwood, Massachusetts, became the manager of the plaza property in January, 1997. [50]

Historic Sign

The sign for Westgate Plaza is unofficially considered a landmark for the uptown Central Avenue area. There have been concerns about damage or renovation of the sign as removing a piece of history for the area. [50] [51]

Miscellaneous Notes

By 1994, it was noted that Crossgates Mall, which had been open for ten years by that time, had had a negative effect on older city shopping plazas such as Westgate. [52]

Sources

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  2. Swift, Aisling (1994-04-17), "The Avenue Means Business Albany's Central Avenue Offers Unique Shopping Experience", Times Union, The (Albany), p. B1, retrieved 2009-04-23
  3. Woodruff, Cathy (1999-08-15), "1966: Colonie Center: Enclose it and They Will Come", Times Union, The (Albany), p. A3, retrieved 2009-04-24
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  5. 1 2 3 Abbey, Alan D. (1993-10-26), "Barbazon Store to Close, Reopen", Times Union, The (Albany), p. C7, retrieved 2009-04-23
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  12. "Ninth Big Dom's Opens in Sch'dy", Times Union, The (Albany), p. A15, 1988-08-26, retrieved 2009-04-23
  13. Eck, Michael (2007-07-22), "Rick Bedrosian, Musician, podcaster", Times Union, The (Albany), p. H1, retrieved 2009-04-24
  14. "Obituary: Joan A. Whalen, 65", Times Union, The (Albany), p. B6, 1996-02-16, retrieved 2009-04-24
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  22. Mc Keon, Michael (1993-09-15), "Nolan Booed Out of Joyce Headquarters", Times Union, The (Albany), p. A2, retrieved 2009-04-23
  23. "Thieves Grab $45,000 in Jewels", Times Union, The (Albany), p. B3, 1994-04-13, retrieved 2009-04-23
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42°40′56.5″N73°47′25.5″W / 42.682361°N 73.790417°W / 42.682361; -73.790417

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