We are excited to announce that we are making progress at the redevelopment project at the former American Locomotive Co. (ALCO) site.

In mid-November, the Galesi Group commenced demolition of the deteriorating industrial buildings and warehouses and have since removed two additional buildings from the site. We anticipate that the demolition will be compete by mid Spring, however this is just our first hurdle in this complex project. Our next step is Phase II, which will require an extensive environmental clean up and removal of contaminated soil and groundwater.

Fortunately the Galesi Group has had years of experience in redeveloping brownfield sites.

Since 1985, the Galesi Group has been actively developing brownfield projects including former military facilities as well as inner city sites. Most recently, we were acknowledged for the environmental clean up of nine acres of land at the former Big N site. Over 10,000 tons of dirt and more than 400,000 gallons of contaminated water were processed in order to begin redeveloping at this brownfield site. The once contaminated manufacturing site resulted in the construction of the $30 million Golub Headquarters and the largest private-sector structure in the Capital Region to receive gold verification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System.

Similar to the polluted industrial site at the former Big N, the ALCO site was an abandoned industrial property with environmental contamination that has remained onsite since World War II, when thousands of steam and diesel locomotives were being manufactured.

The overall goal of the ALCO redevelopment project is to turn the site’s contaminated land into a regional economic development project that will complement the City of Schenectady recent developments.

During this initial development design, we are reaching out to the area business leaders to seek their input on the types of amenities will help attract and retain their business and their employees in the City of Schenectady. This information will be vital in determining the direction of this project along the one-mile stretch of riverfront.

Over the past 6 months the Galesi Group has promoted the National Grid lighting program to our industrial tenants which has resulted in new, energy efficient lighting in over 600,000 sf. While the investment has been significant the savings both in terms of discounts for new lighting and energy usage is even more significant. It is estimated that we are saving 525,000 kWh annually within our industrial parks. If you decide to write any follow up articles on this subject we will be glad to provide testimony about the effectiveness of the program.

Beyond the National Grid program the Galesi Group has made significant advances towards environmental sustainability by aggressively promoting the use of rail, working towards LEED certification on new and existing facilities, and by partnering with Green Earth Technologies, an American clean-tech company.