Senator Patricia Fahy calls for the redevelopment of a portion of the Harriman State Office Campus on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025, in Albany.

Building directory for the Harriman State Office Campus in Albany on Oct. 6, 2016.

About 15 years ago, a development team proposed a massive project for the W. Averell Harriman State Office Campus that would have included a Whole Foods supermarket along with housing, offices and additional retail.

Alas, that proposal from the late Howard Carr, Choice Hotels and White Plains-based Street-Works was rejected by a state government that preferred the status quo at Harriman — a dull island, walled off from the city by fences and ring roads, that Albanians mostly avoid. Whole Foods landed in Colonie instead, and Albany, once again, missed an opportunity.

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Today, Harriman remains little changed since its primary construction ended in the 1960s. The 300 acres of state-owned land........

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