By Matt Baumgartner
Word on the street is that the Rosen Electric building located behind Wolff’s Biergarten and the former Miss Albany Diner will be rehabbed into 20-or-so apartments.
So exciting.
I also heard today that Albany International, the gigantic huge building on Broadway in North Albany / Menands is ALSO being rehabbed into high-end apartments. Â The same people who renovated the mill along withe river in Cohoes is handling the project.
Good things are happening in the Warehouse District!
By Matt Baumgartner
Photo courtesy of The Times Union.
Ham and Eggs (sunny side up), hash browns and dry wheat toast with a large iced coffee… For almost fifteen years this has been my order at my favorite breakfast spot, Miss Albany Diner. I won’t waste time talking about how awesome the food was or how much I enjoyed being there because you already know. For many Albany residents- and some outside of Albany, M.A.D. has been the go to place for all things breakfast.
Jane Brown- the current owner, matriarch and familiar face of Miss Albany Diner decided to enter into a well deserved retirement years ago, but was unable to find a buyer for the building. After careful consideration and discussions with my partners Jimmy and Demetra Vann, we decided to make an offer which Mrs. Brown (recent widow of Cliff Brown who was also an owner) accepted. It is kind of a bittersweet win-win situation, since it is the building that is being sold, not the business. So while we are happy to acquire our neighbor to the left and allow her to move forward with her plans, the diner itself is no more.
Mrs. Brown and her son Bill, are legally keeping the name “Miss Albany Diner†as well as their recipes, and they maintain the right to open another diner in another location, as well as having the right to sell the name Miss Albany Diner and it’s recipes to an interested party at another location. As new owners of the property, we legally can not continue to operate the space as Miss Albany Diner or use their menu items. I’m only noting that because it is important to us that it is clear that we are not “closing down Miss Albany Dinerâ€. They sold us the property, and we are not legally allowed to re-open Miss Albany Diner in that space.
On a personal note, I would like to thank Jane and Bill Brown, for giving us the opportunity to care for a building that is considered by many to be one of the most iconic buildings in the capital region. I know the Browns hold the diner very dear to their hearts, and I promise we will respect the history, the memory, and the integrity of Miss Albany Diner.
