Biography
Sam Wells is the city's vacant buildings coordinator, leading the effort to make many of the city's roughly 1,050 vacant buildings habitable again. "My focus is finding solutions to vacant buildings in Albany and getting them re-occupied," Sam says. "It's challenging and unique task." Sam notes that the vacant building problem is multi-layered, with solutions dependent on the condition of a building, where it's located, and ownership and legal issues.
Sam is also a board member of the Albany County Land Bank and is working with the Vacant Buildings Task Force to come up with policy solutions.
When Sam is not analyzing Albany's vacant buildings, you will likely find him playing ice hockey on a pond or in a rink, such as Swinburne Park.