Hoffman's Playland Redevelopment in Loudonville NY: Why the Delay?

Colonie approved the rezoning for the old Hoffman's Playland site in 2020. The years since have gone to a state wetlands review that centers on a drainage ditch the Hoffman family dug to move water off the property.

If you drive Route 9 through Loudonville, you already know the lot. The amusement park closed in 2014, and the property next to Newton Plaza has sat empty and overgrown ever since. What you may not know is why the site that everyone in town has an opinion about has yet to break ground since the 2020 rezoning, while a storefront a half mile away turned over in five months flat.

Twelve Years, Two Plans, One Parcel

Hoffman's Playland opened in 1952 and closed in 2014 when Dave and Ruth Hoffman retired. Most of the rides were sold and relocated to Huck Finn's Playland in Albany's Warehouse District, which opened in 2015. The land itself, straddling the Loudonville and Newtonville line along Route 9 next to Newton Plaza and the Village at New Loudon, has sat empty ever since.

The town rezoned the property in 2020 to allow a mixed-use project called the Galleria at Loudonville. The Town Board and Planning Board both signed off, and the developer agreed to put up $500,000 for sidewalks on both sides of Route 9 as a public benefit. The original concept paired a building of roughly 26,000 to 30,000 square feet, meant for restaurants and retail, with senior housing behind it: 85 independent living apartments and 92 assisted living beds.

The next stage of review came from the state, and that is where the timeline changed.

How a Parking Lot Drainage Ditch Became a Regulated Wetland

Decades ago, the Hoffmans dug a ditch on the property to drain water off the parking lot and Route 9. It was a maintenance fix, not a landscape feature. But over the years, the ditch developed the plants, animals, reptiles, and amphibians that New York's Freshwater Wetlands Act uses to define a functional wetland, according to Andy Brick, the attorney representing the project's developer. When the state Department of Environmental Conservation reviewed the site, it determined that the ditch fell under its wetlands jurisdiction, which covers construction in and near freshwater wetlands.

In 2023, the DEC denied the project's wetlands permit application because the submitted plan did not include an alternative proposal that would limit environmental impact. The developer's attorney argued an alternative was unnecessary, since the original proposal already had concept plan and rezoning approval from the town. Crummey wrote to the DEC in February 2023 in support of the project, acknowledging that the wetland areas are considered low quality but are subject to the agency's jurisdiction. After several years of exchanges with the agency, the developers came back with a redesigned plan that addresses the DEC's request.

The Plan on the Table Now

The redesign, first reported by the Albany Business Review and confirmed by Times Union reporting within the past week, drops the commercial building entirely and repositions construction so it no longer sits directly over the wetland area. Andy Brick, the attorney representing developer Montgomery Street Partners on this latest version, says the current proposal includes:

• About 130 independent living apartments, up from the original 85
• 52 assisted living beds, down from the original 92
• 30 memory care beds, a category not in the earlier version

No restaurants. No retail. The version of this project that would have let residents walk to dinner without a car, the one town officials once described as the kind of new urbanism Colonie doesn't get much chance to build, is gone. What's left is a senior housing project redesigned around the wetland area.

A Half Mile Away, the Same Road Moved in Five Months

While the Playland site remained undeveloped amid planning and review, a much smaller property nearby changed hands and reopened without any of that friction. Genoa Importing, a longtime tenant in a historic building at 435 Loudon Road between the western end of Route 378 and Siena College, closed in January 2026. By June 23, Robo's Creemees & Deli had moved in and opened its doors.

The shop is a family operation. Claudio and Joanne Robustiano, along with their son Anthony and daughter Mattia Szczepanski, had run a general store, deli, and ice cream stand called Robo's Creemees & General Store in Castleton, Vermont for four years. After Mattia was diagnosed with aplastic anemia, the family sold the Vermont business and moved back to the Capital Region to be closer to her during treatment. Following a bone marrow transplant, she has recovered, and the family opened a new version of the same concept in Loudonville.

The menu runs on Boar's Head deli meats exclusively, with 14 varieties ranging from $9.99 a pound for bologna and pistachio-studded mortadella up to $19.99 a pound for roast beef. Subs run $13.95 to $15.95, breakfast sandwiches $7.99 to $8.99, salads $9.95 to $15.95. The shop's namesake creemees, a Vermont style of soft serve made with roughly double the butterfat of the conventional version, go for $5 a cone, $5.25 as a creemee-wich, $6.95 a pint, and $15.99 as a full pie. Hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, closed Sunday.

No rezoning. No wetlands review. A family found a vacant storefront, signed a lease, and started serving sandwiches within half a year.

What the Contrast Actually Tells You

The two timelines differ because they run through different approvals. The Galleria at Loudonville cleared its town review in 2020. The years since have gone to the state's wetlands review of one feature on the property, a process separate from zoning.

For anyone who has watched that lot for over a decade and wondered when something will break ground, the next milestone is the state's review of the redesigned plan, which now avoids building directly over the wetland area.

Meanwhile, the rest of that stretch of Route 9 keeps moving at its own pace. Storefronts turn over. Families like the Robustianos find a building, a lease, and a customer base without touching a state wetlands docket. The old amusement park lot that everyone in town remembers is still waiting on a different clock entirely.

Loudonville keeps changing in small ways along Route 9 even while its biggest question mark stays exactly where it's been. If you have questions about what is changing along that stretch of Route 9, Tosseia Myers is glad to talk it through. Let's connect.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.