NORTHEAST SNAPSHOT, NOVEMBER 2006

Albany, N.Y. Nanotechnology

Home to Albany Nanotech, The University of Albany and the nearby Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Albany has been a center for technology for some time.  However, according to Joe Larkin of Larkin Commercial Properties, an Albany-based commercial real estate firm, a recent announcement over the summer has catapulted the city and its surrounding areas into a technology mecca.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), a Sunnyvale, California-based computer chip manufacturer, recently announced plans to build a $3.2 billion, 1.2 million-square-foot semiconductor manufacturing plant in the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Malta just North of Albany. The new plant will be one of the few of its kind in the United States and promises to be a great boon to the economy in Albany and its surrounding areas.

The Luther Forest Technology Campus is a 1,350-acre environmentally friendly campus that has been specifically designed for nanotechnology manufacturing, research and development.

Larkin notes that it has been forecasted that once the pant is fully operational it will provide approximately 1,200 workers with high-paying technology jobs. “That will stimulate the economy in not only the real estate sector, but also the retail and residential sectors,” says Larkin. In addition, the AMD development will not only bring high-paying high-tech jobs to Albany, but it will also bring ancillary companies to Albany.  “Companies are already coming to the area to work in conjunction with this type of technology,” says Larkin.

The AMD plant is being built in an empire zone, which according to Larkin could mean as much as $500 million in tax breaks for the company, as well as $150 million in development grants for new microprocessors. The project is currently in the planning stages with construction slated to begin in summer 2007.

According to Larkin another project underway that is putting Albany on the technology map is the $100 million super computer project that is being undertaken at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute campus in Troy. Together with IBM and the State of New York, Rensselaer has established the Computational Center for Nanotechnology, a research and computational center to provide leadership in nanotechnology modeling and stimulation.

In response to projects such as these, submarkets throughout the Hudson Valley region down towards New York City will continue to grow in addition to Albany. Currently, the focal point in Albany is around the colleges and universities because of the available intellect there.  According to Larkin, growth will also continue up and down Hudson Valley area  and somewhat North of Albany.

Currently, the range of rental rates for the office space in Albany ranges from $15 to $35 per square foot and warehouse space is ranging from $5 to $8 per square foot. “In anticipation of AMD’s development plant, prices and demand are already beginning to go up in and around Albany,” says Larkin. 

— Stephanie Mayhew

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