Troy, NY is the new Brooklyn!

[Moshe H.]

Did that subject title get your attention? Good! :) I saw this super-hype phrase used in a property listing yesterday. It also said Troy is the "new Saratoga Springs". The question I pose to our august Upstate New York contributors is - is this all hype, is there something to it, or a mix of both? Is Troy really "up and coming" or has there just been a slow improvement in certain areas?

Looking forward to everyone's input.

[Michael Gansberg]

Hi @Moshe H. @Brian Rosher 

I'm so glad to see this post and the feedback about Troy. I've been a Manhattanite since '93, and started investing in Troy in '04. I acquired multifamily buildings there between '04 and early '06, then again from '09 to end of '14, and haven't yet sold any. Troy continues to be the epicenter of my operations, and I've leveraged my team to expand into Waterford and Mechanicville(I'm in Albany and other areas too, but Troy contains a very high percentage of my stuff.)

It's come a long way since I started there, and the rent growth has been pretty decent. I wouldn't compare it to Brooklyn just yet, and I don't think the Capital District has been sufficiently magnetic to compel the influx of hipsters and yuppies required to make it feel like the chic parts of Brooklyn. Absent proper job growth in Albany and Troy, I'm concerned that Troy's upward trajectory will not continue as it has in the recent past. But if local job growth is good, I suspect(and hope) that Troy's renaissance will continue. 

It's a fun place to be, and cost of living is quite reasonable. There's abundant industrial space for those looking to start companies, as well as reasonably priced office space, and government is generally friendly towards investors, though I've had some dust-ups with them of late. Finding well-priced real estate(relative to rent) seems to be a fool's errand nowadays- five or six years ago, I could buy a poorly-functioning two family for what a shell or gut-rehab costs today. And well-functioning two family buildings are priced such that creating substantial cash flow is challenging(although I've moved on from this type of product, it is a decent barometer.) Landlord-tenant court is very favorable for investors in Troy. I have to admit, I have a landlord-crush on a certain judge. Shh, don't tell anyone.

Schenectady has repelled many investors since I've operated in the Capital District(I won't elaborate on the reasons, that's for another thread,) and I doubt a casino will change their fortunes. If gambling were such a panacea, Atlantic City would be smoking hot by now! But even a savvy businessman like Donald Trump couldn't keep his casinos open there(I thought the house never loses? OK, that's it for politics today, sorry about that.) I also have avoided Cohoes for investments for Schenectady-like reasons. Waterford has proven rather decent, even though their local government seems to go out of their way to be difficult sometimes.  

Brian, I picked up a building in Mechanicville in '13, and I told my closing attorney(who lives in Stillwater) about the development that was going to increase values. He laughed at me, and said it'll never happen. Unfortunately, he's winning that bet! I'm still hopeful, however my hopes are fading on that point.

If anyone has Troy questions, please feel free to DM me, I could chat about Troy all day(as evidenced from the above 200 page post.)