Walgreen's was stopped by the state from opening stores a while back because they were building stores with which there was no pharmacists to staff them.  In order for a pharmacy to be open it must be staffed.  Hannaford, Price Chopper, and Wal-mart are supermarkets so they get around it.  I believe the state stopped them till they had the staffing to open the stores.

I went into a walgreens for the first time......what a junk store.......

Quoted Text

Group pushes delay on plaza plan vote
By PAUL NELSON, Staff writer
First published in print: Tuesday, June 29, 2010

NISKAYUNA -- The preservation group fighting for the historic Ingersoll Home is now pushing for the town to delay voting on a revised proposal by a developer to make the structure the focal point of a new building project.

"This developer has changed his plans several times, and this new plan is very different from the one which the previous Town Board voted on granting the special use permit originally," the group said in a statement released Monday. "This new plan can be set aside for six months or a year while our town examines all issues of parkland, view scopes, historic lands and building--the fabric of our community and sense of place and beauty."
Highbridge Development of Schenectady has refused to reveal whether it has any signed leases and the cost of the moving the building 350 feet to face Balltown Road as it now wants to do before leasing it for retail or office space.

Highbridge CEO John Roth confirmed Monday that the firm has several leases and letters of intent from potential tenants, but he declined to elaborate until the deals for the 12-acre parcel at State Street and Balltown Road are finalized.

He also disagreed with the preservation group's assertion that the original special use permit was no good.

"We already have all the approvals required for the project and all we're asking the Planning Board for is a minor modification," Roth added of the $15 million project, which has been renamed Mansion Square..................>>>>....................>>>>.....................Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/AspS.....9/2010#ixzz0sEnQV6ZL

Quoted Text

NISKAYUNA
Stanford home move to planners
Board Monday to consider house relocation
BY STEVEN COOK Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter Steven Cook at 395-3122 or scook@dailygazette.net.

    The historic former Stanford residence can be moved safely, the town Planning Board has been told by a moving company hired by the developer.
    The planning board Monday is to consider approving changes to the original plan, the biggest change being moving the mansion from its current location to another on the site, closer to State Street.
    The planning board last month asked for assurances that the home could safely be moved, before approving the revised plan for the site.
    In a letter addressed to Highbridge Development’s president John Roth and submitted to the board, Mark Buckingham of Pennsylvania-based Wolfe House Movers, attempted to give those assurances. Buckingham wrote that company offi cials visited the site on March 26 and again on June 29 to evaluate moving the home. They looked at the wall and fl oor composition, foundation construction and structural integrity, among other things.
    “Upon reviewing the entire structure, we have determined that the building is in good condition and can be moved safely without creating any damage to the existing structure,” Buckingham wrote. He also noted they have moved many similar homes without incident.
    Comments from residents opposing the project last month suggested moving the home was a pretense for it to be destroyed in the move. They also argued that moving the home would eliminate any future historic designations for the building as only buildings on their original foundations can be considered.
    Highbridge Development’s original plan called for constructing a half-dozen retail businesses surrounding the former Ingersoll Residence retirement home, located on Balltown Road. The old brick mansion was to be used as a restaurant.
    The new plan has the nearly 200-year-old mansion being moved and rotated to be included in a larger retail space paralleling State Street. The plan has nine buildings, the smallest being 2,400 square feet, the largest being a 19,240 square foot retail space that would include the former mansion.
    Approvals were originally given in 2007, but a legal challenge and economic challenges delayed the project. Highbridge is arguing the new changes will make it more attractive to businesses. ................>>>>................>>>>...............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01302&AppName=1

There's a whole LOT of scuttlebutt going around Lowe's that Wegman's is interested in this property, like NOW.

Wow

Quoted from 147

There's a whole LOT of scuttlebutt going around Lowe's that Wegman's is interested in this property, like NOW.

I heard the same thing.

I thought the democraps who rule the town of Nisk' 5-0 and the majority county dems would stop the destruction of such a historic property? I guess they failed.

What I don't get, Golub is on the board of Metrojunk, he's a resident of Niskayuna. They're (maybe) gonna let this happen in his own back yard? Seems like a slap in the face

He would never digress from what any of the ruling class would do.

Quoted Text

NISKAYUNA -- The Planning Board  is scheduled tonight to vote on a resolution that would pave the way for the iconic Ingersoll home to become the focal point of a controversial shopping mall project.

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Niskayuna-board-voting-on-paving-way-for-591079.php

Quoted Text

There's a whole LOT of scuttlebutt going around Lowe's that Wegman's is interested in this property, like NOW.

I hope that's true.  I shop at Hannaford now.  Won't spend my money at Price Chopper.  I love Wegman's.  Glad to hear
that there coming to Niskayuna.  They'll give Golub a run for his money.

Love to see Wegman's here but will believe it when I see it. Graham is right and this whole mess is due to the fact that the all DEM Town Board lied to the people. I thought Nisky was the kind of suburb where the REPS would thrive? lol. The town planner is not a planner. The planning board will be pressured to do something because it is such an eyesore. It can't get any worse-and oops the historic building fell apart during the move-so knock it down.

I really don't care. The people who were for saving this old building and were supposedly up in arms put in a majority (5-0) democrap group, and then continue to vote for them no matter how hard they slap them in the face! That alone is hysterical. Same failed answers to the same questions! LOL! I can't wait to see the wrecking ball there!

Quoted Text

NISKAYUNA
Ingersoll mansion move approved
Opponents decry plan board says will preserve structure
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter

    Despite fervent appeals from several town residents, the Niskayuna Planning Board unanimously agreed to let a moving company lift the historic Stanford mansion off its foundation and deposit it close to State Street.
    The former Ingersoll Residence retirement home has stood at the same spot for 200 years. It will be moved soon, Planning Board members believe.
    Highbridge Development asked for permission to move and rotate the historic building so it could be included in a larger retail space paralleling State Street. The new plan has nine buildings, the largest being a 19,240-square-foot retail space that would include the former mansion. Only a couple of businesses have signed leases so far, and Highbridge officials argued the change would make the development more attractive to the commercial world.
    The Planning Board agreed.
    Board member Morris Auster said the long delay in construction — no buildings have been erected since the plans were approved in 2007 — could be partly because the arrangement around the mansion didn’t appeal to businesses.
    Construction was also delayed because of a legal challenge to the town’s original approval of the plan. Highbridge won in that case — but still, no work was done beyond leveling the stately trees that covered the property and demolishing an 80-year-old addition to the mansion.
    Many view the result, a denuded site, as an aesthetic nightmare.
    “This site as it sits is also a detriment,” said board Chairman Kevin Walsh, in explaining his reason for voting to move the mansion.
    Auster added that the property looks so terrible now that it’s hurting all of Niskayuna.
    “It kind of hurts the perception of this town,” he said.
    Something needs to be done to jump-start commercial development, he said, noting that not one building was constructed while the mansion remained in the center of the property.
    “Clearly that has not worked,” he said. .........................>>>>>...............>>>>>.................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00101&AppName=1