Four E-Comm Square on Broadway in Albany was demolished following substantial structural damage from recent heavy rains on Wednesday. Capitalize Albany Corp. acquired the 1840s building in 2019 and failed to maintain it.

Four E-Comm Square is demolished following substantial structural damage from recent heavy rains on Wednesday, on Broadway in Albany.

A few days ago, a vacant but historic downtown building was demolished because it had been allowed to deteriorate so much that it was a danger to the public and could collapse.

Now, you may assume that 4 E-Comm Square was victimized by another neglectful out-of-town owner, the kind that doesn’t care about Albany’s history or future, the type responsible for so many of the X-placard marked vacancies around town.

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Instead, the owner is Capitalize Albany Corp., the city’s economic development arm, which acquired the building in 2019 and utterly failed to, you know, keep the place standing. Capitalize Albany essentially was just another slumlord, making the loss of the once-handsome structure built in the 1840s an example of either staggering governmental incompetence or mind-blowing indifference.

Either way, the rubble pile along Broadway represents systemic failure. It shows that something is wrong in Albany.

How could this happen?

Well, bigger picture, this story is about the long-stalled redevelopment of the vacant, eight-acre wasteland near the Greyhound bus station. I typically call it the Parking Lot District. Some prefer a sunnier name, Liberty........

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