Prince Hall Apartments

The building at 114–120 Madison Avenue served generations of community organizations before the present housing proposal. A historical walking tour hosted by the University at Albany identifies the address as Capitol City Lodge, bought by the Sons of Italy as a meeting hall in the 1920s and later occupied by a Black Masonic lodge. The current application calls it Van Loon Hall, dates construction to 1913 and identifies the later Prince Hall Masonic use; a real-estate listing instead gives 1920, so the exact construction year is not settled. Capitalize Albany described a vacant, three-story former Masonic Hall in June 2026, needing structural repairs, restored utilities, façade work and hazardous-material abatement. Those records establish underuse, but no reliable last-occupancy date or continuous vacancy duration. The applicant reports purchase on December 2, 2025 for $365,000. Albany’s 2026 final roll names 120 Madison Ave, LLC at parcel 76.49-4-3 and cites deed 2025/22217; the deed itself was not obtained. The proposal introduces housing into a building whose previous club configuration contained no residential units, while retaining ground-floor commercial use.

Applicant and 2026 assessed owner, parcel 76.49-4-3; purchase date/price are applicant-reported

120 Madison Ave, LLC

100% LLC owner and manager/member in application and IDA staff summary

Jahkeen Hoke

Development organization identified by Albany IDA

Hoke Development

1920s meeting-hall purchaser identified in historical walking tour

Sons of Italy

Former community use; exact institutional succession dates not established

Prince Hall Masonic lodge / Capitol City Lodge

• Projection11 market-rate homes and approximately 3,000 SF of commercial space are contemplated. — June 18 certified deviation resolution attachment
• ProjectionThree permanent jobs and 20 construction jobs are projected. — June 6 IDA staff summary
• DocumentedReuse and stabilization are the agency’s justification for accepting its modeled reduction against no-project taxes. — June 6 IDA staff summary

• The Restore NY award also includes 135 South Pearl Street. This is a shared public grant allocation, not evidence of common property ownership. No other common-owner relationship was established in the 55 current projects, 23 businesses, four saved archive records and retrieved prior research checked.

• What terms were executed in the PILOT and other assistance agreements, and what exemptions or payments have actually occurred?
• How does the signed PILOT reconcile its $365,000 base with the $641,000 assessment used in staff analysis and shown in the 2026 roll?
• What share of the two-property Restore NY award is assigned to this rehabilitation, and what has been disbursed?

• The applicant gives 1913 as construction year; a property listing gives 1920. Historical lodge occupancy does not resolve original construction.
• The applicant summary uses “mixed-income,” but the certified deviation attachment describes 11 market-rate homes; an enforceable income-restricted housing obligation was not established.
• June publicity describes a historically tax-exempt building; the 2026 roll lists $641,000 county, city and school taxable value. Historical exemption status must not be treated as current permanent exemption.
• The applicant reports a December 2, 2025 purchase for $365,000; the real-estate listing reports December 16, 2025 and $358,000. The 2026 roll corroborates the LLC owner and deed reference, but the deed and transfer return were not obtained to reconcile the transaction details.

1. 1913 — Construction year claimed in current application; listing gives 1920.No figures reported.
2. 1920s — Sons of Italy meeting-hall acquisition described in historical walking tour; Masonic use followed at an undetermined date.No figures reported.
3. 2025-12-02 — Applicant-reported purchase.$365,000; 2026 roll cites deed 2025/22217, not a reviewed deed.
4. 2026-06-06 — IDA staff publishes fiscal and assistance estimates.$4,767,641 estimated investment; $96,762 lower modeled PILOT receipts than no-project baseline.
5. 2026-06-18 — IDA approving and certified deviation resolutions adopted; agreement execution not established.18-year schedule; 11 market-rate homes; approximately 3,000 SF commercial.

• University at Albany-hosted historical walking tour, stop 20, PDF p. 7: Sons of Italy / Capitol City Lodge · Publication date not established; accessed 2026-10-16
• Albany IDA applicant filing: project history, ownership and purchase; applicant account · 2026-05-26 filing filename; accessed 2026-10-16
• Albany IDA project summary · 2026-06-06
• Certified PILOT deviation resolution and June 5 terms letter · 2026-06-18
• Capitalize Albany rehabilitation announcement · 2026-06-18
• Albany 2026 final roll, PDF p. 2125: parcel 76.49-4-3 · 2026
• Property listing: alternative 1920 construction year, not an assessor certification · Publication date not established; accessed 2026-10-16
• State Restore NY announcement: shared two-property Albany award · 2024-07-31