A 45-acre town center that draws some of

A 45-acre town center that draws some of its architectural inspiration from a historic Shaker settlement may be built in Colonie, New York, north of Albany. New Loudon Road Associates, a development firm based in Schenectady, hired the New York office of Cooper Carry to provide master planning and architectural design for the center, which it proposes to build on US Rt. 9. The center, called the Village of New Loudon, may include retail, multifamily housing, a 45- to 65-room boutique hotel and spa, and office space, arranged around public space. Because of community opposition to big-box stores, the retail component is to be a mix of “boutique national chains and local retailers, entertainment, dining, and amenity spaces,” according to Cooper Carry. The 79,000-population Town of Colonie contains the Watervliet Shaker Historic District, described as “America’s first Shaker settlement.” Cooper Carry intends to work with regional vernacular architecture in designing the center. The project also aims to decrease automobile dependence. The development would be the first implementation of revised codes and plans meant to bring new community centers into existence in the suburban town.