Central Warehouse Demolition Lawsuit Statement
March 11, 2025
ALBANY, N.Y.—The Advance Albany County Alliance and CEO Kevin O’Connor today released the following statement in response to a lawsuit filed against the Alliance:
“The Advance Albany County Alliance, a not-for-profit local development corporation, issued a publicly advertised, open and competitive request for proposals (RFP) in October 2024 for the demolition of the Central Warehouse at 143 Montgomery Street. The RFP was transparent in nature and it clearly defined for all proposers:
- the scope of work; and
- the criteria by which all proposals would be evaluated.
The RFP and the accompanying resolution from the independent Board of Directors of the Advance Albany County Alliance stipulated that cost was not the sole issue; rather, the qualification of every response was analyzed and scored against its overall responsiveness to the RFP and multiple evaluation criteria, including: proposer experience and qualifications, project cost, project methodology, performance of past projects and RFP compliance. These criteria were transparent and clearly identified for all RFP respondents.
Upon receiving seven responses, a rigorous review and evaluation was completed by a separate professional review committee, which identified three complete proposals. The review committee then evaluated and interviewed each of the three responders against the publicly stated evaluation criteria. Among the special factors considered by the review committee during its review was the immediately adjacent active rail line which had already experienced service interruption from falling debris.
Following this process, the review committee made a recommendation to the independent Board of the Advance Albany County Alliance to enter contract negotiations with Gramercy Group, Inc. and LiRo-Hill. The Alliance Board agreed with and approved this recommendation unanimously at a special meeting of the Board on February 25, 2025.
Further, the Alliance and its Board wish to unequivocally affirm that there were absolutely no political considerations of any kind in the evaluation and selection process.
We believe we will prevail in this legal matter. With due respect for the legal process, during the pendency of this litigation the Advance Albany County Alliance will not comment further.”
Media Contact:
Geoff Redick | Baker Public Relations
O: 518.426.4099 | M: 585.297.2453
geoff@bakerpublicrelations.com
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