By Max Bergman
Contributing Writer
The College of Saint Rose has recently sold eight buildings throughout Albany, with the listing prices of all eight buildings totaling $3.65 million. An Albany-based commercial real estate agency, Jankow Companies, has secured all eight buildings from The College of Saint Rose in a deal that so far has not been made public.
Bargain and sale deeds have been reported to the Albany County Clerk’s Office, which state the transfer of properties 423-429 Western Avenue into the hands of private ownership of 423 Western LLC, which is located at 363 Ontario St. in Albany. This is also the address of Jankow Companies’-owned apartment buildings The Rise in Pine Hills.
Jankow Companies told The Times Union that it would soon be starting construction on 324 State St., beginning their $6.5 million project to turn the former Picotte Hall, College of Saint Rose’s previous Center for Art and Design, into new market-rate apartments. The Chronicle contacted Jankow Companies and the College for comments, but neither responded by press time.
Saint Rose has been planning on selling these buildings for more than a year in order to improve the college’s financial outlook, which was made more urgent after The Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), the accrediting body for degree-granting schools in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, gave a non-compliance warning to the College in June 2023 due in part to concerns about the school’s financial health.
The College remains fully accredited, and must submit a report to MSCHE in January 2024 that addresses the concerns the commission had about resources and other issues such as assessment processes. The College has made many efforts to reduce expenses, which has included refinancing its debt last year, cutting programs in prior years and laying off faculty.
