Live, Local, Late Breaking news, weather, and sportsParking issue could force WG&L move

Parking issue could force WG&L move

Closed door meetings between city and Water, Gas, and Light officials indicate an effort to move WG&L's offices to another downtown location.

Sources tell us WG&L is looking at the Suntrust Bank Building on Broad Avenue.

The issue appear to be a lack of parking, at the Water Gas and Light building. Today officials for both Water Gas and Light and Suntrust say a confidentiality agreement between the two keeps them from saying anything about a possible deal.

Just ask anyone who's tried to stop by Water, Gas, and Light to pay their bill and they'll tell you it's not a simple task, the parking lot doesn't accommodate many.

"It's very tiny, especially if you're coming in during business hours," said Jonathan Pona, WG&L Customer.

"If it's full, you've got to wait, and circle back around," said Carol Johnson, a WG&L Customer.

WG&L officials say that's the motive behind trying to move the offices to another location. On Wednesday the Albany City Commission had a closed door meeting with WG&L's General Manager Lem Edwards, the finance director John Vansant, and their attorney to discuss as we've learned the possible purchase of the SunTrust Building. That would potentially open the former Hotel Gordon up to be sold, possibly for downtown living.

"The Water, Gas, and Light building is great space, the Exchange building is great space the building we're in now the Silver's building is great space, all the second floor spaces down Broad and say Jackson they might cater just to one or two units but one or two are just as important as a building that could have 30 so" said Aaron Blair, Albany Downtown Manager.

The city has been working to get funding for a loft conversion program.

"We've drafted up a loft conversion program, it's just a matter of funding the program that should assist in private development of lofts and condos downtown," said Blair.

It won't come cheap. Take the WG&L Building for instance. They've had architects look over the building and to convert the top three floors which are just open space without heat or air conditioning would cost a million dollars a floor. Downtown Manager Aaron Blair says that's about right the cost to convert most downtown buildings to living space is approximately $100 a square foot.

Blair said the city is also working to rehab historical homes just outside the downtown corridor in Harlem and Sandy Bottom, but that will take a lot of infill.

The issue was tabled at Wednesday night's meeting and there's no indication of when a potential deal might be brought back before the commission.

The Sun Trust Building was built in 1977 and renovated in 1987.

It has 6,929 square feet of space available to lease.

The building currently houses Sun Trust Offices and Jones Defense Contractors.

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