News & Events

By — Bianca Caputo, News 10 Albany

COLONIE, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Heidenberg Property Group purchased the southern portion of the Colonie Center building including Whole Foods about 2 years ago. Previously there was a two-story Sears, but now they’re looking to fill 40,000 square feet inside the building.

The developer is aiming to integrate their portion of the mall with the rest of the Colonie Center, and fill a parking lot that they say is underused. They submitted a plan to the Colonie Planning Board Tuesday to put three more businesses in their parking lot in addition to Bank of America which is under construction.

Director of Development and Construction Pablo Medeiros said he’s excited to see the space transform into something new. The group is already building a kids adventure park above whole foods and courting stores for other empty spaces.

“We have to pretty much tear everything down to the studs, as they say,” said Medeiros.

Chief Operation Officer (COO) Jason Lazar said the process of mall revitalization isn’t a new one for the New Jersey based group, and they’ve done this with five former anchored shopping centers in the past. He said younger generations are now returning to malls after years where it looked like online shopping would be on top.

“While it’s great to be able to order things online, we really want to go out and experience life,” said Lazar.

President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Robert Heidenberg said in a Zoom interview that he understands the challenges, but likes the location of the south-end and is optimistic about the project.

The Planning Board said they were excited to see plans to redevelop the space instead of a plan for a new development. For future meetings they recommended a traffic study and adding more green space to the plan.