Downtown Albany BID holds grand opening for Flanigan's II

The city of Albany and the Downtown Albany Business Improvement District (BID) held the opening and official ribbon-cutting for Flanigan's II Deli at their new downtown location within the building of 41 State St. on August 7th in front of the Broadway entrance. Albany mayor Gerald Jennings, Georgette Steffens, executive director, Downtown Albany BID, and Jim Lang, co-owner of Flanigan's spoke at the event. Deli co-owners Chef Bagley, Jim Lang, and Adam DiDio officially opened their second location on July 22th, as an expansion of the original business, Flanigan's Deli, located in Rensselaer, N.Y. "When I took office in 1994, I knew that increasing residential development opportunities would be a key component in creating a vibrant and thriving capital city," said mayor Gerald Jennings. "Through creative partnerships, aggressive strategy, and financial incentives at the State and local level, downtown residential is not only here, but also in high demand. The city is pleased to welcome another expanding business to the city of Albany that will serve the needs of our downtown community." The original location of Flanigan's Deli has been in the family since the 1970's. Decades ago, Bagley's grandmother, Vassilike Zeppetelli (know as Aunt Bet), operated the shop selling penny candy, among other items. Bagley, along with Lang and DiDio, opened the original business in early 2012 keeping the original Flanigan's name. Since then, they credit an appreciation of their customer base, coupled by their passion for cuisine and serving quality food, an integral part of their success. "Growing our business was about matching the right opportunity with the best location," said Bagley, "Downtown Albany has the residential demographic we were looking for to route our expanded offerings and serves as a perfect location to increase our presence on GrubHub. I'm pleased to report that we've already surpassed our expected sales goals since opening our Downtown location." According to a 2011 residential market study conducted by Zimmerman/Volk Associates, overall demand for residential properties in downtown Albany has grown exponentially within the last five years. In fact, the demand for rental properties in downtown Albany has seen a spike of 83% since 2006. In addition to an increased call for Downtown rental properties, interest in condos has also increased by 43%. Downtown Albany has continued to maintain an average 97% occupancy rate over the past two years. To date, downtown Albany residential has seen nearly $35 million in new private investment, and the reuse of approximately 240,000 square feet of vacant space in downtown Albany. "By opening early and staying open late, Flanigan's II Deli is serving the needs of the growing Downtown residential population as well as the weekday workforce," said Georgette Steffens. "We're very excited that they will also be open on Saturdays with their full menu available, as well as traditional deli meat services."