It’s been years in the making, but there’s movement on remodeling the former McDonald’s property at a key entrance into the city of Albany now that the African American Cultural Center of The Capital Region has purchased the site.
“This began as a vision outside our office window across the street,” Executive Director Travon Jackson said Tuesday.
People living in the South End will see the site become a grocery store that will provide many long underserved families better access to fresh and healthy food, supporters said.
What You Need To Know
- The property at 106 Pearl St., Albany, now belongs to the African American Cultural Center of The Capital Region
- The $850,000 purchase was a result of private investors and collaboration among local organizations and elected officials
- The organization will transform the property into a grocery store for a community often underserved
“People who walk this street every day, panhandling for a chance to eat food we throw away in our homes and our restaurants,” Jackson said, “that time is done.”
The $850,000 purchase was a result of private investors and collaboration among local organizations and elected officials.
“When you go to 99, 101 South Pearl Street, 200, 220, 230 Green, you walk right down the street, there is no place to go get fresh foods,” Albany County Executive Dan McCoy said.
The grocery store is expected to open in the spring and advocates say its opening will bring far-reaching benefits to the Capital City.
“Beyond this effort is the attention we’re going to pay to the streets outside of this corner,” Jackson said. “It’s the attention we’re going to pay to the people who come off the highway and no longer see blight.”
