BY PAUL NELSON, Times Union

SCHENECTADY – There are signs of construction up and down Lower State Street, a spurt of redevelopment that officials hope will revive a once forlorn part of downtown.

Mayor Gary McCarthy said that several of the construction projects should be done by the fall.

The work is happening on several blocks to west of the so-called Proctors block, the city’s downtown entertainment area that features several restaurants as well as the theater and Bow-Tie Cinema.

“There’s been significant amount of investment and interest in that section of State Street,” McCarthy said of the new work. “It’s good for Schenectady, it’s good for the whole region because it shows that people are looking at urban areas differently where people want to move and invest.”

One linchpin projects is the $25 million Mill Artisan District, a proposal by developer and architect JT Pollard to convert several mostly vacant properties at State and North Church Streets and Mill Lane into 74 apartments, space for tech companies, culinary, restaurants and brewing programs. The project is also expected to include a large shared space that will host a brewery, distillery and a cooperage.

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