Albany building to be demolished

Albany

Lawrence Fauntleroy was home at 211 Sheridan Ave. on Friday when he heard a disturbing sound rumbling up from the basement of the two-family building.

"It sounded like, 'Grrrtttt,'" he said. "Grrrtttt. Grrrtttt."

When Fauntleroy stuck his head out the door, he said, workers at the construction site next door waved him out of the building. The foundation was bowing and appeared to be separating from the house.

Fauntleroy and Shatina McCall, who lives with him, said they were not allowed to go back inside their home. City officials decided the building was no longer safe and by Friday evening a crew had arrived to take it down.

The building is next to the excavation site for a 12-unit apartment house being built by Syracuse-based Housing Visions. It is part of a dramatic remake of the Sheridan Hollow neighborhood by the Touhey Homeownership Foundation and Habitat for Humanity of the Capital District.

The project in the area east of Albany's downtown consists of 37 new buildings including 20 one- and two-unit homes and a total of 77 housing units.

Ben Lockwood, vice president of business development at Housing Visions, said it was too early to say whether the construction was responsible for the damage to 211 Sheridan.

"We're just in the very preliminary part of the investigation," Lockwood said.

The scene on Sheridan Avenue recalled one from 2010 on Madison Avenue. Excavation for the foundation of a new building at 598 Madison Ave. caused the east wall of 600 Madison to shear off, leading the city to demolish the circa-1870 structure. That demolition forced five tenants out of their homes.

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Albany building to be demolished