Westgate Plaza (Albany, New York)

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]

Tenants

Over the years, tenants have included:

Tenant Name	Date Opened
JCPenney	1957 (closed in 1984, moving to Crossgates Mall)[4]
Barbizon Fashion Shops	1960s (closed during redevelopment, then reopened)[5] (closed permanently after May 9, 1997)[6]
W.T. Grant	1974 or earlier[7]
Albany Public Market	unknown[8]
Land of Fabrics	unknown[9]
Traditions Antiques	unknown[10]
National Savings Bank	before October 24, 1986[11]
Big Dom's	before August 26, 1988[12]
Westgate Piano & Organ	unknown[13]
Stylish Women Limited	unknown[14]
Card Time	unknown[15]
Albany Window Design	before July 8, 1990[16]
MSS Limited	before December, 1990 (planned to relocate to Builders Square Plaza in Colonie by January, 1991)[17]
Grand Union	before March 6, 1991[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 Associates	unknown, moved before March 7, 1997[21]
Harold L. Joyce headquarters (political campaign office)	before September 15, 1993[22]
Champion Factory Outlet	before 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)[26]
Westgate Barber Shop	before April 22, 1995[28]
Cohoes Savings Bank (branch inside Price Chopper)	May 15, 1995[29]
J.B.'s Theatre	before June 18, 1995[30]
Duane's Toyland	before December 21, 1995[31]
Empire Cellular	before January 28, 1996[32]
The Party Experience	June, 1997 company took over Paper Cutter in 1996 (liquidation in May, 1998)[33]
New Music Center	before July 25, 1998[34]
Mini Mall Theater	before February 13, 1999[35]
Capital District Equal Opportunity Center	before July 12, 1999[36]
Key Bank	before July 17, 1999[37]
American Institute of Japanese Karate	before July 12, 2000[38]
Mailboxes Etc.	before November 18, 2000[39]
Call to Pray Ministry	before September 12, 2002[40]
Mr. Subb	before March 17, 2003[41]
One Price Clothing Store	before February, 2004 (closed by end of March, 2004)[42]
Payless Shoes	before October 25, 2004 [43]
Fashion Bug	before June 18, 2005 [44]
Dean's Incredible Edibles	before November 16, 2005 [45]
UPS Store	before December 27, 2005 [46]
PCX Corp.	after June 12, 2007 [47]
Horizons Management Associates LLC	after June 12, 2007 [47]
A.J. Wright	October 16, 2008[48] (24,000 sq ft.)[49]
BEST Fitness	Unknown

"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 leases the building. 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.^[50]

Boston Development Associates of Westwood, Massachusetts, became the manager of the plaza property in January, 1997.^[51]

Historic Sign

The sign for Westgate Plaza is unofficially considered a landmark for the downtown Central Avenue area. There have been concerns about damage or renovation of the sign as removing a piece of history for the area.^[51][52]

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.^[53]

Sources

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