Michael Phinney, Principal owner and architect, Phinney Design Group
Michael Phinney’s work at 550 Waterfront has transformed the north end of Saratoga Lake and brought new life to Queen Boat Co. marina on Lake George. The architect who was advocating for sustainable design before most people knew what the term “green development” meant, is now bringing a new concept to downtown Troy with his mass timber office and restaurant development.
What’s the most pressing issue facing this area and how would you solve it? Affordable housing and mental health/addiction issues. As an architect designing multimillion-dollar homes, it has also been very rewarding to recently enter into the large-scale affordable housing market. We are committed to developing models that create a great home, well-designed with unique amenities that are also affordable. The rise in homelessness and drug overdoses is staggering, as a society we need to invest more time, money and incentives to increase the number of trained professionals that can help people in need and do our best to create a path for them to be healthy, productive members of the community.
If you had $1 billion to invest in the Capital Region tomorrow, what would you do? Create a transportation corporation focused on creating sustainable alternatives to commute from Lake Placid to Albany. Perhaps an all-electric monorail down the middle of I-87.
