The Swyer Companies today announced that Penzeys Spices – a purveyor of fine spices, seasonings and rubs — will lease a storefront on the south side of the newly upgraded and reconfigured Wolf Road Park. Penzeys is the first significant tenant announcement following recent improvements to the expansive retail plaza.
Located at 145 and 145A Wolf Road in Colonie, Wolf Road Park has benefitted from more than $1 million in landscaping and beautification upgrades that will continue for the foreseeable future to yield a clean, attractive and contemporary look for the plaza.
“We are thrilled to secure Penzeys as the first notable and popular tenant following the ongoing series of improvements to Wolf Road Park,” said Ed Swyer, President of The Swyer Companies. “Penzeys’ tenancy is the first step in building a robust and exciting new lifestyle shopping center along Wolf Road, the downtown of the Capital District.”
Penzeys Spices will occupy 3,100 square feet adjacent to Professor Java’s Coffee Sanctuary. It is expected to welcome previous and new guests beginning later this summer or early fall.
Prior to announcing the impending move to Wolf Road Park, Penzeys was a tenant of Stuyvesant Plaza, which The Swyer Companies had owned for more than six decades. In March 2022, Swyer entered into a joint venture with WS Development as a minority partner for management and ownership of Stuyvesant Plaza.
“We are excited to be back in Albany and in a location that pretty much most everybody agreed was the best possible,” said William Penzey, Jr., founder and owner of Penzeys Spices.
Established in 1987, Penzeys Spices began as a catalogue business in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin that eventually grew to include several dozen retail stores. During his youth, William Jr. worked in The Spice House, a coffee and spice business founded by his parents William Sr. and Ruth Ann Penzey in Milwaukee.
Today, Penzeys sources premium spices from all over the world and currently operates stores across the country.
The current roster of tenants on the south side of Wolf Road Park includes Outback Steakhouse, The Tile Shop, Guitar Center, Professor Java’s Coffee Sanctuary and Goldfish Swim School, among others.
Wolf Road Park spans approximately 240,000 square feet and is primarily comprised of retail space that includes a vacant, 14,000-square-foot standalone building at 145 Wolf Road; the main shopping plaza at 145A Wolf Road; and supplemental properties on Metro Park Road. In addition, there are nine acres of undeveloped land for expansion. As one of the area’s busiest shopping corridors, Wolf Road boasts millions of square feet of office, retail and restaurant space, and is within close proximity to residential neighborhoods. Wolf Road Park is located roughly in the center of the busy shopping district.
The original mixed-use development was built in the early 1970s and today is under the ownership of The Swyer Companies and the estate of Salvatore Beltrone.
Atlantic Retail Partner Shannon Older is the leasing agent for Wolf Road Park and is collaborating with colleague Alison Burnside in recruiting a complementary mix of new businesses.
For more information about Atlantic Retail and Wolf Road Park visit https://atlanticretail.com/buildout-listings/1354655-lease/