Pine Hills

[B9j2j6s]

Hey just got back from the game took my kids to Saint Rose to see it perhaps the last time as a college.  Went further down to Ontario to see the student district.  The only place I recognized was Paesan's Pizza.  So the lamp post is gone, 518 looked abandoned and WT's looked out of business as well.  What has happened down there?  Did covid kill a lot of the bars?  Also noticed a whole lot of apartment buildings up on Washington and Fuller.  Do uper classman still live downtown? or have most stayed uptown with more and better options?  Just curious it has been four years since I have been to Albany so was surprised to see all the changes.  

[cwdickens]

The Bryon's sold the business in 2018 and the new owners apparently lost in interest in the business in April 2023.  Whoever are the current owners of the building, they are attempting to lease the building.  Based on my understanding, Alumni Quad is still used for housing.  Maybe, in the last 10 years, I have traveled this area less than 7 times.  When your suburbanized, you limit where you travel to Albany.... Landmark Spectrum Movie Theatre, The Egg, Warehouse District along Broadway and City Center adjacent to The Empire State Plaza

[UAalum72]

IIRC when Mike Byron sold the WT there was a dispute as to what happened to the inventory between the time of the offer and the closing.

Also the former Ginger Man down the block is now the Cuckoo's Nest, more homey Southern restaurant than the wine bar the GM was.

Brubacher Hall was leased to St. Rose until recently. The Alumni Quad dorms are used as temporary housing when the Uptown Campus is full

[Dane96]

I worked for Mike Byron and lived above WTs (for two years) and in his unit that was next door (the really nice double decker white unit).  Was very friendly with the kids.  Does not shock me to know that there was a dispute as to the inventory...it's about Mike Byron as Mike Byron got.  His wife was the hardest worker I have ever seen in my life.  The stuff that went on behind the scenes at WTs were legendary, even rumors of support for certain organizations during "The Troubles".  My roommates managed the Gingerman, which was a great spot back in the day. 

When I graduated, we hung a sign outside (the one time Mike gave us permission to do anything that wasn't "his way") that said, "Moms and Dads, we did it...living above a bar".  Mike, in his typical Irish quip, noted (to our parents), "It's not because they were the best workers...can't even stack the glassware right".  Was both tongue in cheek and probably an actual complain about the three of us.  

[cwdickens]

On 1/2/2024 at 11:07 AM, Dane96 said:

I worked for Mike Byron and lived above WTs (for two years) and in his unit that was next door (the really nice double decker white unit).  Was very friendly with the kids.  Does not shock me to know that there was a dispute as to the inventory...it's about Mike Byron as Mike Byron got.  His wife was the hardest worker I have ever seen in my life.  The stuff that went on behind the scenes at WTs were legendary, even rumors of support for certain organizations during "The Troubles".  My roommates managed the Gingerman, which was a great spot back in the day. 

When I graduated, we hung a sign outside (the one time Mike gave us permission to do anything that wasn't "his way") that said, "Moms and Dads, we did it...living above a bar".  Mike, in his typical Irish quip, noted (to our parents), "It's not because they were the best workers...can't even stack the glassware right".  Was both tongue in cheek and probably an actual complain about the three of us.  

The Washington Tavern will return from an article appearing in The Times-Union on Friday:

 

 

Washington Tavern being revived for June opening

Beloved Albany bar had declined after being sold by longtime owner

 

By Steve Barnes

Lori Van Buren/Times Union

The Washington Tavern, on Western Avenue near Quail Street in Albany’s student neighborhood, was a beloved bar during the 47-year tenure of owner Michael Byron but declined after he sold it 2018, never recovered from the pandemic and was sold again in 2023. The new owners are renovating it for a projected reopening in June.

ALBANY — A pair of development partners who own dozens of properties in the city’s student neighborhood are working to reopen the Washington Tavern, a beloved bar that declined after being sold by its longtime owner and never recovered from the pandemic.

John “Jay” Corallo and Justin Schmiemann, of J&J Investment Properties, are hoping to open in June after a gut-renovation of the building, located at 250 Western Ave.

 

“We’ve taken it down to the studs. It’s a complete overhaul in there,” Schmiemann said in an interview Thursday.

They are keeping the name. “There’s a lot of brand equity in it,” Schmiemann said.

He said they are partnering on the tavern project with Ben Levack, a corporate trainer for Marriott hotels. Levack will operate the revived tavern.

J&J Investment Properties’ 45 buildings include 163 apartments that are home to about 250 students, most in the immediate area of WT’s, as the bar was popularly known, Schmiemann said.

“They need a place to eat, to watch football and have a beer,” he said. He said the partners and Levack plan to upgrade the food and beverage offerings but still maintain a tavern feel for neighborhood professionals during the day and a hangout for younger crowds at night.

J&J bought the building last year. It is among a number of buildings in the Washington Tavern block of Western Avenue between Quail and Ontario streets that they now own and previously were owned by Michael Byron, a native of Ireland who took over WT’s in 1971.

Byron sold the tavern in 2018 to partners named Don Keeler and Joseph Salin, though it is unclear if both were still involved with WT’s at the time of the sale to J&J. The tavern foundered after being sold, then was in business intermittently during and after the pandemic. Its last service appears to have been in early 2023, though Schmiemann said he could not say precisely when.

 

Edited March 2 by cwdickens
update