On Monday, some Capital Region legislators will introduce a bill requiring New York state to dedicate seven acres of the Wadsworth lab project on the Harriman State Office Campus in Albany for residential and retail development.

The $1.7 billion was originally budgeted to complete the creation of a new state-of-the-art public health laboratory, which aims to enhance the State’s readiness to respond effectively to future public health crises and retain top-tier scientists.

However, Sen. Pat Fahy said she wants to “move beyond the design mistakes of the 1960s” by increasing the area’s walkability.

Fahy will be introducing legislation with state Assemblymembers Gabriella Romero and John McDonald on Monday at 12:30 p.m. at the Harriman State Office Campus.

The $1.7 billion was originally budgeted to complete the creation of a new state-of-the-art public health laboratory, which aims to enhance the State’s readiness to respond effectively to future public health crises and retain top-tier scientists.

The Wadsworth Center currently operates across five facilities. The new laboratory, to be constructed on the Harriman Office Campus Complex in Albany by 2030, will seek to consolidate the facilities. In April 2022, an initial $1.9 million design contract was jointly awarded to Gilbane Inc. and Turner Construction Co. in association with the design firm HOK.

The budget funding is an increase of $967 million from the original $750 million approved in the 2018 budget. However, due to the pandemic and inflation, development was split into two phases.