Albany County says it has withdrawn a plan to build a bus terminal at the site of a former McDonald’s on South Pearl Street in Albany.
This comes as the county received pushback from South End residents, who said the county did not sufficiently involve the community in the bus terminal project planning.
In a statement issued Thursday, Albany County Executive Dan McCoy said the Advance Albany County Alliance will now put the property up for sale. McCoy said unless a buyer with another plan emerges, the county will likely demolish the building and use the property as overflow parking for MVP Arena.
“After receiving letters of support and positive feedback through direct conversations with members of the South End neighborhood about developing a new intercity bus terminal, we have decided to withdraw our request to invest County resources into this project,” McCoy said in a statement.
The alliance, a local development corporation overseeing the project, had budgeted $5 million to $7 million for the terminal. The corporation has applied for up to another $7 million from Empire State Development and Albany County.
The Albany County Legislature was previously set to vote on providing $1.5 million to the corporation for the project. But the legislature tabled a vote earlier this month after receiving resistance from residents.
McCoy previously said the bus terminal project is a necessity for downtown Albany and said that community concerns about diesel fumes and public safety had been addressed.
