Churchill: Construct an Amazon facility at the Kenwood campus in Albany?

 

Not all jobs that we should appreciate are tech-related.

The proposed $250 million complex that a London-based developer intends to erect on the former Kenwood Convent site in Albany is shown. This is the most recent plan to construct a new structure on the site of the former Doane Stuart school, which burned down in 2023.

ALBANY: According to a guy I know, the former Kenwood Convent site, which is located at the city’s southern edge, should be transformed into an Amazon warehouse. He is not joking.

This acquaintance highlights the site’s great access to the interstate, its placement in a primarily industrial area, and its close proximity to neighbourhoods in Albany where hundreds of employment in the blue collar sector may be very beneficial. He’s got a point.

You may be confident that the 73-acre property between South Pearl Street and Southern Boulevard is not intended to be used as a warehouse.

Steve Hughes, a Times Union reporter, and I had a meeting with the people who want to rebuild the site that was formerly home to a magnificent church and a convent, both of which were destroyed by a terrible fire last year. The EK Group intends to construct a $250 million tech complex, which Steve has subsequently reported, and may contain office space, about 1,000 apartments, a workforce development centre, and some shops.

This is an amazing, ambitious idea that appears to depend on the county agreeing to waive $6.6 million in back taxes paid by previous owners and locating a tech company to serve as the development’s anchor. Cross your fingers.

Michael-Henry Elghanian-Krayem, director of EK Group, assured Steve and me that he is optimistic that a solution can be found and is heartened by the early response from political authorities. He displayed sketches of an innovatively designed office block that connects two older, fire-resistant buildings.

The plan is to develop a campus worthy of the site’s past as a training ground for women to become nuns and as the location of the now-Resselaer Doane Stuart school for teenagers. According to the EK Group concept, the land would continue to be a place apart but also serve as a link between Bethlehem, an upscale neighbourhood, and the city’s destitute South End.

Of course, there have been other proposals to renovate the land, which has been empty since the Society of Sacred Heart listed the area for sale in 2009.

For instance, Saratoga Springs developer Sonny Bonacio was a member of a consortium in 2015 that aimed to convert the chapel into a performance space and the former school and convent into 150 apartments. When the development team and the city couldn’t agree on tax benefits, the agreement fell through.

Thus, the EK Group’s proposition is far from certain. However, if everything went according to plan, the city would surely benefit from it as a source of well-paying jobs, desperately needed housing, and more. There’s not much to dislike about the proposal to leverage the city’s nanotechnology industry, especially because Elghanian-Krayem pledges to preserve and improve the campus’s unique identity.

Tech, tech, tech, huh? If we’re still calling it that, it seems to be the only word we ever hear and the only term that attracts the attention of politicians in Tech Valley. Technology is the Holy Grail of employment in the future, as I’m sure you’ve heard.

However, what about those who lack the necessary skills to work in technology? or those who are unwilling to work in the field? What about employment opportunities for them?

Many of the well-paying industries that don’t require a college degree, like manufacturing, are flat or dropping in state labour department graphs that show employment totals and trends, while those that do require a college education are constantly rising. I realise it’s an old post-NAFTA tale, especially in upstate New York.

But it’s clear that many people are falling behind due to the concentration on tech, tech, tech in areas like the South End and tiny towns throughout the region. 

Yes, rumours have it that working at Amazon is unpleasant. Indeed, considering its park-like surroundings, the sloping Kenwood site definitely wouldn’t work for a large warehouse and maybe shouldn’t be industrialised. The idea isn’t really to disparage the EK Group plan—which does, as I indicated, have a workforce development component—or Kenwood or Amazon in particular.

It would be wonderful if there was a bit less talk about computer jobs and more about the creation and celebration of other types of work, such as those that don’t require a college degree. Maybe jobs that don’t involve sitting in fluorescent lighting. jobs requiring a little muscle and perspiration. jobs where boots are needed rather than loafers.

Says a man who makes his living by typing on a laptop.