Rensselaer may have missed out on the casino sweepstakes and the chance to revitalize its waterfront. But now, SUNY Polytechnic Institute is eying a site downtown where it hopes to build a tech hub and employee housing.

It could be one of the biggest projects to come to Rensselaer since the renovation of the train station. Mayor Dan Dwyer toured the vacant lot at de Laet’s landing, just across the Hudson from the Albany skyline, with SUNY Polytechnic Institute President Alain Kaloyeros on Thursday morning.

They announced a partnership to encourage two prospective corporations from outside of New York to invest in the project. Kaloyeros summarized the plan:

"In a nutshell I would call it an innovation and commercialization hub," Kaloyeros said. "Much like all the other hubs we are building across the state, it would have a combination of high-tech corporations coming here when they move from outside New York..."

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