Central Warehouse owner gets new deadline for repairs

The Central Warehouse owner has a new deadline to make repairs. The city served new notices of violation to him Monday.

Owner Evan Blum has another 10 days to complete repairs.

New markers are up on the side of the building, as city workers finished emergency repairs.

Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan says sheet rock and plywood alone will not fix the repairs that city has ordered. She says these are millions of dollars of repairs, including asbestos abatement, that are long overdue for the building.

“My understanding, though, is that because those repairs are not emergency repairs, there needs to be abatement that would occur before significant work could occur on the interior of that building,” Sheehan said.

The mayor says The city is not expecting the fixes to be completed in 10 days, according to the mayor. They want to see a good-faith effort from the owner in that time. But Sheehan casts doubt on whether that would happen.

“For an individual to not be able to pay the tax bill, sends a signal to the city and the county that they are not going to necessarily be able to undertake millions of dollars of work to stabilize this building,” she said.

The county told NewsChannel 13 that Blum owes roughly $550,000 in taxes.

NewsChannel 13 repeatedly asked Blum if he plans to make any repairs. His last answer was that, “There are still some unanswered questions in my mind that [the city] will need to address in person.”

Sheehan says the county is also working hard to foreclose the building.