A multi-building Asian grocery and retail complex is moving forward on Central Avenue in Colonie, on a parcel once contaminated with depleted uranium and shut down by court order more than four decades ago. The Town of Colonie Planning Board voted to declare itself lead agency and launch a coordinated environmental review of the project on September 22, 2026, setting in motion the next phase of a site transformation that has been 42 years in the making.
The 11.29-acre property at 1130 Central Ave. sits on what was formerly the National Lead Industries site, a foundry and manufacturing plant that became contaminated with depleted uranium and other radioactive materials, according to the Daily Gazette. New York State Supreme Court shuttered the plant in 1984 following airborne uranium releases, the outlet reports. The site's industrial roots run even deeper: it was used for wood products and toys before becoming a brass foundry in 1927; National Lead purchased the facility in 1937 and began processing uranium and thorium for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in 1958, according to the Department of Energy.
Decades of Federal Cleanup Finally Clear the Land
Federal agencies spent more than $190 million across over two decades remediating toxic dust and radioactive waste at the site, as reported by the Houston Chronicle. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers handled the bulk of the soil removal before handing stewardship to the Department of Energy, and crews under the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program ultimately excavated and removed 135,000 cubic yards of radioactive- and heavy-metal-contaminated soil from the main parcel while decontaminating dozens of nearby properties, per the agency's own account. That federal program, established by Congress in 1974 and handed to the Army Corps for active execution in 1997, was built specifically to address sites tied to early U.S. atomic weapons and energy production.
In October 2019, the 11.2-acre parcel became the 100th legacy site transferred to the Department of Energy's Office of Legacy Management, a milestone that marked the end of active federal remediation, according to a release carried by PR Newswire. Thomas Fromberger, director of site development for MRB Group, said his firm completed environmental reclamation of the parcel under New York State Department of Environmental Conservation supervision, per the Daily Gazette's reporting. The site has since been reclassified from Class 2 to Class 4, a designation meaning remediation is complete and active cleanup has concluded, though the deed of sale still carries a DEC environmental easement requiring active groundwater monitoring wells and land-use controls.
A $2.15 Million Purchase and Buffalo-Based Grocery Chain
Developer Asian Center Mall LLC purchased the land from the U.S. General Services Administration for $2.15 million in a federal land sale deed submitted in January 2023, the Houston Chronicle reported, noting the GSA had previously set an online auction starting bid of just $300,000 for the property. The company has proposed redeveloping the 11.29-acre site into a multi-building business center, according to the Daily Gazette.
The grocery tenant behind the project, Asia Food Market, was founded in Rochester in 2005 by Rockey Ren and Qing Li and now operates pan-Asian supermarkets in Rochester, Syracuse, and Amherst, plus Ren's Mart in Ithaca, according to The Cornell Daily Sun. Its largest store, a 60,000-square-foot location in suburban Buffalo, suggests the company has experience scaling up big-box grocery formats. The Colonie plans call for a 32,400-square-foot grocery building with an attached 6,300-square-foot warehouse, alongside a separate business center featuring a 10,800-square-foot retail building and an 11,100-square-foot warehouse paired with a 2,400-square-foot office, per the Daily Gazette.
Fire Departments Draw a Line on Road Access
Before final approval, the project faces a requirement for a second full access road, a sticking point that has put the developer at odds with local emergency responders. The applicant's plans call for constructing a 1,200-foot section of new town road through the property, with a proposed Railroad Avenue extension terminating at the western parcel line, leaving a roughly 1,000-foot gap to the existing corridor near Maplewood Avenue. The applicant has included a temporary hammerhead turnaround to address the gap for now, but the Town of Colonie wants the road extended all the way to Maplewood Avenue.
The Fuller Road, Colonie Village, and West Albany fire departments have all demanded a permanent second access point. Richard Barlette said all three responding fire departments are united in that demand, stressing that a second road is critically important to avoid a dead end or cul-de-sac, according to the Daily Gazette's reporting. MRB Group has discussed a temporary gate or a matted grass emergency strip leading onto Central Avenue as a stopgap, but Barlette said fire officials want a road that provides a genuine second means of egress, not a workaround.
The applicant is installing New York State Department of Transportation signalized intersection improvements along Central Avenue and is building the 1,200 feet of dedicated road up to the parcel line, with discussions about the remaining road extension continuing with the town board. Because the project will physically disturb 10.54 acres, it exceeds the 10-acre threshold for a Type 1 action and is classified as such under state environmental law, which is why the planning board voted unanimously to assume lead agency status for the coordinated review.
More Asian Grocery Competition on Central Avenue
The project would add to an already crowded international food corridor. Central Avenue in Colonie serves as a major commercial center for international grocery stores in Albany County, and the proposed Asia Food Market site sits less than a mile from Asian Supermarket at 1245 Central Ave. and roughly four miles from Farmer's India Market, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Future phase reviews will include closer looks at renderings, architecture, and landscaping, with plans already calling for brick accent columns along Central Avenue and enhanced landscaping on the northwest side of the property. The developer must return to the planning board for individual reviews as future retail and warehouse phases are built out, the Daily Gazette reports. A 2007 study published by Leicester University researchers found detectable depleted uranium in urine samples from former plant workers and nearby residents more than 20 years after production ceased, according to The Guardian, underscoring the long shadow the site's nuclear history has cast over the surrounding community even as commercial redevelopment now moves ahead.
