ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The City of Albany American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Leadership Team has announced the 35 projects that have been selected to receive grants under the American Rescue Plan Act. In total, $25 million in federal relief dollars were provided to Albany.
The ARPA leadership team said about $18 million is being awarded for projects that will create affordable housing, affordable homeownership, community spaces and direct services in Albany’s neighborhoods. The remainder will assist small businesses and arts and tourism organizations.
Albany received nearly 150 proposals for funding that were reviewed for consideration. About 63 proposals moved on to Phase II which included a more detailed application process.
Recipients
| Organization | Funding | Project |
| Affordable Housing Partnership | $300,00 | To establish an Albany Matched Savings Program combined with financial coaching to help residents prepare for homeownership, with a particular focus on addressing Albany’s racial wealth gap. |
| Albany Center Gallery | $75,000 | To provide stipends for artists who are Albany residents to support current and new programming to enhance access and exposure to art. |
| Albany Community Land Trust | $600,000 | To manage the renovation of 12 blighted properties and improvements to vacant lots. |
| Albany County Convention and Visitors Bureau (dba Discover Albany) | $282,280 | To develop a multi-year Halloween Festival, inspired by Albany’s historic Halloween-Dreamland from over a century ago, and marketing around “FALL-bany.” |
| Albany County Historical Association | $332,000 | To modernize access to and improve the grounds of the Ten Broeck Mansion’s four acres of historic gardens and museum spaces, frontage on Livingston Avenue, and improved safety and access parking. |
| Albany Housing Authority/Pearl Over Look Corp | $748,000 | To leverage private and other governmental funding for Steamboat Square Revitalization Phase 1, the rehabilitation and preservation of 20 Rensselaer Street, to rehabilitate 51 existing apartments, and create 37 new affordable housing apartments targeted to residents earning up to 50% and 70% of Area Median Income. |
| Albany Parking Authority | $236,899 | To install 17 decorative light poles and enhance lighting at four parking lot locations along Central Avenue (between Henry Johnson Blvd. and Quail St.) and at the Quackenbush parking lot. |
| Albany Water Board | $500,000 | To expand its existing grant program to assist homeowners with the cost of lead service replacement including an emphasis on street-wide lead service replacement in historically redlined neighborhoods and neighborhoods identified as Environmental Justice Communities by NYS DEC. |
| Capital Repertory Theatre | $350,000 | To construct a parking lot on a long-vacant parcel of land in Arbor Hill. |
| Capitalize Albany Corporation | $1,100,000 | To leverage existing state and private funding to redevelop an underutilized site on Clinton Avenue (a key gateway into the Capital Region’s central business district) and transform it into the Clinton Market Collective – a new market concept and proving ground for startup businesses, diverse popup retail, installations by local artists, and signature events. |
| Capitalize Albany Corporation, Downtown Albany BID, and Central Avenue BID | $1,500,000 | To provide small business grants and other various avenues of support for small businesses across the City of Albany. |
| CARES of NY, Inc | $1,975,266 | To expand the existing platform of the City’s Emergency Solutions Grant funding with a new workforce component. |
| Central District Management Association (Central Avenue BID) | $265,000 | To leverage private and BID funds to develop the second and third floors of the STEAM Garden on Central Avenue. |
| City of Albany – West Hill Community Center | $2,000,000 | To support the design, engineering, purchase of a site, and construction of the West Hill Community Center. |
| City of Albany –Hoffman Park Recreation Center | $2,000,000 | To expand and update the second floor of the Hoffman Park Recreation Center. |
| City of Albany – Department of Administrative Services | $400,000 | To reinvent how the City attracts, engages, and retains employees, focusing on reaching and attracting new and diverse talent to City government through a “Join Albany” recruiting initiative. |
| Destroyer Escort Historical Museum | $500,000 | To leverage private and non-profit funding to update the shoreside facilities of USS Slater and Dutch Apple Cruises with new infrastructure that includes a visitor’s center, gift shop, storage, public restrooms, a classroom, and updated safety and security elements. |
| Downtown Albany Business Improvement District | $838,020 | To develop the Capital Wayfinding Program. |
| Grand Street Community Arts Inc. | $200,000 | To leverage additional funding sources to renovate the organization’s 5,000 square foot basement space to create year-round multiuse rooms for community meetings, programming, and services. |
| Habitat for Humanity Capital District | $3,790,000 | To advance its efforts to develop 100 new affordable homes located in Qualified Census Tracts (that include the South End, Arbor Hill, and West Hill) and historically redlined neighborhoods in the City of Albany and sell them to qualified, first-time homebuyers. |
| Historic Albany Foundation | $50,000 | To create a new Tool Library in the West Hill Neighborhood, creating an opportunity for residents to borrow and return items as (and when) needed. |
| Historic Cherry Hill | $143,451 | To leverage private and philanthropic capital to increase the accessibility for residents of the South End neighborhood. |
| In Our Own Voices | $500,000 | To purchase and renovate a building to expand its effective, evidence-based programs for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming (LGBTGNC) individuals with a focus on LGBT People of Color (POC), including the addition of a youth drop-in center and transitional/rehousing for youth and transgender individuals. |
| Jewish Family Services of Northeastern NY | $626,802 | To expand its programming and establish new supplemental services to support aging well and safely for traditionally marginalized, vulnerable older adults. |
| Organization of Adirondack Rowers and Scullers, Inc. dba Albany Rowing Center | $40,000 | To upgrade the ramps connecting the shoreline with the docks at the Corning Preserve boat ramp on the Hudson River – better connecting the Albany waterfront and its recreational opportunities to residents and visitors alike. |
| Park Playhouse, Inc | $250,000 | To restore the Washington Park Amphitheatre and continue delivering free theater activities. Updates will prioritize the safety for patrons and passersby. |
| Parsons Child and Family Center | $1,334,961 | To deliver a community-based Wellness Advocate team to work with residents to identify and resolve immediate social determinants of health conditions. |
| Pine Hills Neighborhood Association | $50,000 | To remove blacktop maintenance strips and install permeable weed-blocking surfaces and decorative hardscape, and plant additional trees in targeted sections of the Pines Hills neighborhood composed primarily of rental properties including Quail Street from Madison to Elberon Place and Hudson Avenue from Ontario Street to South Lake Avenue. |
| Refugee Welcome Corporation | $70,000 | To take full ownership of its facility and enhance its ability to provide additional services and programming for residents. |
| Restaurant Navona | $125,000 | To leverage federal and private funding to provide restaurant workforce training and certification programs for individuals disconnected from the workforce or who may need additional skills to enter the workforce. |
| Refugee and Immigrant Support Services (RISSE) | $104,000 | To expand its own Job Assistance program. |
| South End Children’s Cafe | $1,000,000 | Capital investments and facility needs to increase the number of children and families it can serve daily. |
| South End Partners LLC | $483,321 | To close the financing gap and support the development of 11 affordable single-family townhomes on 11 vacant parcels of land owned by ACLBC and situated in Qualified Census Tracts that will be marketed to households with income no greater than 80% of the Area Median Income. |
| Trinity Alliance of the Capital Region Inc | $1,730,000 | To leverage other governmental and private funding to make capital investments in its structures to enhance the scope, depth, reach, and coordination of its multiple services. |
| Upper Washington Avenue Neighborhood Association & Westland Hills Little League | $500,000 | To work with the City of Albany to develop an accessible nature trail and enhance youth baseball and softball fields to improve access to and quality of recreational activities for Albany residents. |
