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Albany County approves Shaker Place staff cafe renovation and related contracts
Summary
The Albany County Legislature authorized contracts to renovate staff dining space into a full-service Shaker Place cafe, approving a $468,828 general-contractor authorization with AOW Construction and a separate mechanical contract with Colette Mechanical.
The Albany County Legislature authorized contracts to renovate existing staff dining space into a full-service cafe at the Shaker Place facility and approved related mechanical work.
County Executive Director Olson presented two contract actions for the Shaker Place cafe. The general contractor contract with AOW Construction LLC was presented as the sole responsible bidder at a base cost of $390,006.90 plus a 20% contingency, for a total contract authorization of $468,828. The county described the project as county-funded and included in the 2026–2030 County Capital Plan as part of the county’s food distribution initiatives. The contract term was listed to commence on June 12, 2025, through June 2027, with staff hopeful the physical work could be completed by this fall.
County staff said the county will apply to New York State’s Medicaid capital reimbursement program to offset some of the capital cost; staff estimated a potential reimbursement of about 50 percent but said the exact reimbursement amount depends on accounting offsets for prior capital projects and would be paid over a multi-year schedule, beginning more than two years after project completion and likely amortized over about 10 years.
Legislators asked whether the cafe would serve the public. Olson said the cafe is intended primarily for staff, with the goal of later opening service to visitors; the staff dining area would remain for employees while visitors could access the cafe via the atrium space. Legislators also asked why there was only one bidder; staff said contractors are busy and AOW has prior county project experience.
The meeting included questions about Medicaid reimbursement timing and facility census relevant to potential Medicaid claims. County staff reported the facility census at about 245 of 250 beds, with roughly 70–75 residents covered by Medicaid; the facility has one 40-bed unit designated for short-term rehabilitation, where about half the census is typically short-term rehab patients. Legislators moved and seconded the contracts; both carried by voice vote. A separate contract with Colette Mechanical for mechanical construction services for the cafe was also authorized in the same meeting.
