<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0Lz6j7_19xZgADY00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0Lz6j7_19xZgADY00" width="1159" height="869" ><figcaption>These flowering trees along Highway 20 remind me of the garden center whose owners planted them years ago.</figcaption></figure>Every spring drivers going north over the Willamette River in Albany get to admire, if only briefly, a row of trees with beautiful blossoms.The trees light up what is an otherwise depressing sight: the empty building that housed a thriving market back in the day, and then a couple of garden centers.Now the place is for sale or lease. The owners, a real estate investment firm with an office in Corvallis, are asking $1.6 million for the property, according to an online ad I saw. That seems like a good deal, because the Benton County assessor says the property is worth more than $4 million.Now the owners are asking the Albany Planning Division to approve splitting the 3.1-acre site into two parcels. They’re also asking for a floodplain review. April 1 is the deadline for comment on the application.One proposed parcel, the one you see from the highway, holds the empty retail building and parking lot. A coffee stand occupies the other parcel, which faces Hickory Street. The address is 350 Hickory.The retail building was constructed in 1958. In the 1970s and ’80s, it housed Carter’s Market. It was a great place to get groceries, big enough to have everything you needed and compact enough so you didn’t have to hike half a mile to find milk.The market failed under subsequent owners.In 2005, Tom and Annette Krupicka bought the property and moved their garden center there from Pacific Boulevard. It is they whom we must thank for planting those trees on the sloping bank leading up to Highway 20.After 30 years of running an Albany garden center, the Krupickas retired in 2019, sold the store, and moved to the coast.Another couple opened a new garden business there, and they, too, provided a useful service. But for a couple of years now, the building has been vacant.Perhaps, dividing the property will make it easier to sell and redevelop. That building deserves to be put to a good use. (hh)<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0vMvc4_19xZgADY00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0vMvc4_19xZgADY00" width="1470" height="810" ><figcaption>The former market and then garden center at 350 Hickory St. NW, photographed on March 19, 2026.</figcaption></figure></div></body>

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Every spring drivers going north over the Willamette River in Albany get to admire, if only briefly, a row of trees with beautiful blossoms. The trees light up what is an otherwise depressing sight: the empty building that housed a thriving market back in the day, and then a couple of garden centers.

What’s next for this former market?

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Every spring drivers going north over the Willamette River in Albany get to admire, if only briefly, a row of trees with beautiful blossoms. The trees ligh

What’s next for this former market?

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