The Central Warehouse – long a blight on the Albany skyline – may be coming down.

Jeff Buell, of Redburn Development Partners, confirmed on Tuesday that its plans to renovate the structure into commercial space on the first floor and apartments above is too costly, and they are seeking to demolish the structure.

“A number of factors contributed to our inability to redevelop the Central Warehouse as proposed, including a very challenging economic climate. There sometimes is victory in defeat. And we look forward to working with our partners to get the building down and remove this blight from the skyline,” he said.

Albany County Executive Dan McCoy issued a statement saying the county is ready to assist the developer in applying for a state grant to raze the structure and provide financial assistance if needed.

“We’ve got to think outside the box. We tried this bold idea. It didn’t work. Now it’s time to take Central Warehouse down and have this fresh canvas to tie more of downtown Albany into the waterfront,” he said.

The Albany Business Review was first to report the story.