Ah, another year has flown by. It's been a good one here at 484 Central, despite our beliefs that we were maxxed out. We surpassed our sales projections and had another profitable year. We distributed equitable bonuses to staff and member workers, made a donation of over $4,500 to our community, and are looking ahead. Looking ahead at what, you ask? We're looking for a new home.

We collectively (staff, members of the Strategic Planning committee, members at large, customers) feel we cannot continue to stay in our present location. If you haven't been over on a Saturday afternoon, we invite you to do so, and it will become crystal clear what some of the bigger issues are. The access from the street is challenging (getting in and out is onerous), the parking is far below inadequate (even with Clearview allowing us to use their lot after 5:30 during the week and on weekends), there is no room for trucks, there is no loading dock (which slows the receiving process), there is no room for product line expansion, there is inadequate meeting space, there is no room for a classroom kitchen setup, no space outside for plant storage, etc.

That being said, the Strategic Planning committee set to looking for a new home. We commissioned a marketing study. The report indicated that the center of Albany (where we are) is the heart of our market and that we draw customers from 14 zip codes on the average end of the week. We are a destination - and ideally, we should make our home in the heart of our market. Nice idea, but easier said than done.

Next we hired a realtor, Peter McKee, from Remax. He's been working with us to identify spaces in the area that are approximately 20-28,000 square feet and meet our other criteria (loading dock, 100+ parking spaces, busline, serving a neighborhood, space for meetings, new departments like meat and fish (we heard you when you said we had to be respectful, and are open to subcontracting these services also), expanded full-service deli, educational spaces, good access from street, close to arterial (we wish more of us walked, but we just don't), green building materials if possible, and so on. Do we rent or buy? Build or redevelop? We have a grid that we use when we see spaces to help us keep all this in mind.

Then we hired a financial forecaster to help us figure what we need to do all this and identify many scenarios about how we could make it happen. His preliminary report has just come in, and he says we are in fine financial shape to take on a long term payment, as we have no debt right now. He says a lot more than that, of course, but if we are prudent and keep applying the same general working principles to the way we do business, we should be able to handle a long-term note. His secondary report should be finished by the time you read this. He'll give us a tool that we can use to plug in different scenarios as we identify them, which will be very helpful.

So far, we've seen a handful of spaces. There is not much on the market that meets our criteria. Everything seems three times too large or far too small. We've visited old Grand Unions, old neighborhood grocery stores, bowling alleys, custom-made storage places, rental warehouses, plumbing supply spaces with mold and underground parking. We've talked with the city about some of their development ideas, in Arbor Hill and the South End. Overall, their immediate plans are smaller than our scale. But we continue to discuss them, and the city would be happy if we stayed in Albany.

Around the corner from Channel 9 on Watervliet Avenue, at 45 Industrial Park Road (the former WRCA building), we entered into an agreement to hold the property while we look into its viability as our new home. At a glance, it reminds us a bit of 484 when we first found it. It's a rental, the cost is below market value (just slightly higher than what we pay now). It's closer to I-90 than 484, it's a block off one busline - three blocks off another two or three buses - it's within walking distance to a neighborhood, and it's in the heart of our market. It's 20,000 square feet of raw, unfinished warehouse. No frills. It's 30 feet high and loading dock height off the ground. It has a railroad track behind it, and is a stone's throw from I-90 so signage in the back of the building would be very noticeable while driving by. Our interior neighbor would be a warehouse, and next door is Carpet Warehouse; across is Bokland Custom Visuals, and the CDTA is diagonal neighbor. At first glance, we thought the parking was light, but now that we've talked to the owner we see that it's flexible and could accommodate close to 100 cars.

Next we hired an architect (Sage Architects, Albany). They evaluated the building and determined that it would take $2 million dollars to get it to move-in condition - not including equipment - just necessary utilities and finishes. We'd have to build a covered ramp, install plumbing and electrical upgrades, etc. This amount shocked us at first, but we didn't have the financial scenarios, so aren't sure what we could comfortably afford. We have to evaluate it further and will continue doing so.

Stop by the building and let us know what you think. We left an envelope at the service desk for your responses. We've heard from some of you, and we thank you.

In the interim, in case that doesn't work out, we're still entertaining all possibilities. Some people from Troy are looking for locations for us. Neighborhood associations are inviting us to lunch and to see their neighborhoods. If you have any information, or some land in a prime location, you can contact our realtor directly: petermckee@remax.net. He evaluates properties before we see them.