The campus was planned in the 1950s by
Governor W. Averell Harriman to offer more parking and easier access for state employees. The first building (Building 1, Department of Civil Service) was built in 1956, and 2, 9, and 17 were completed by the early 1960s, but most of the buildings were built in the mid-late 1960s under Governor
Nelson Rockefeller. In 1964 the Division Headquarters Building (Building 22) of the
New York State Police was built in the campus, marking the first time that the administrative and headquarters support services were consolidated in the same building. Three years later the State Police Academy (Building 24) was built next door. The State Police Forensics Center (Building 30), was built in 1994. In 1987 less than on Brevator Street was given at no charge to the city of Albany for use of a new fire station, Engine 10. This increased coverage for the western part of the city, including the Harriman Campus and University at Albany. Starting with Governor
Hugh Carey in the 1970s, policy has been to relocate workers from the Harriman Campus and other suburban settings to the various downtowns of the
Capital District; Albany,
Schenectady and
Troy. The plan continued under governors
Mario Cuomo and
George Pataki; Pataki signed into law in 1998 the $235 million
Albany Plan that further sped up the process and included privatizing the campus after moving the majority of state workers to other locations. From 1995 to 2005 over 13,364 state workers were relocated around the Capital District, including moving the 1,400
New York State Department of Transportation workers from the Harriman Campus to a renovated 50 Wolf Road in
Colonie (the former
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation headquarters). The plan was originally envisioned in 2003 as a bold move to completely eliminate the ring road, demolish the existing buildings, and construct a hotel, commercial, residential, and high tech office space all integrated with the surrounding neighborhoods. As of 2015, the buildings have been demolished. That far-reaching plan, however, was scrapped by Governor
Eliot Spitzer in 2007. Two very different proposals were put forth, one by the Howard Group that kept to the original idea of integration, retail, and residential space and demolition of existing structures, the other by Columbia Development. Columbia Development's proposal, which would keep the state office buildings and privatize the land putting it back on the tax rolls piecemeal as tenants were lined up, was the one chose by the HRTDC. Residential development would take a smaller role as would retail. The ring road would also stay unless land requirements would require moving it, but not until tenants were definitely lined up for space. The campus would remain apart and segregated from the surrounding neighborhoods. Columbia Development will begin with just a five to parcel in the northwest corner of the campus and has a one-year window starting in 2010 to market it for development. The neighboring University at Albany has petitioned for a transfer of from the Harriman Campus to the university in order to build a new
dormitory, and the HRTDC agreed to the transfer. This has taken place; it was under the purview of the Office of General Services (OGS), the state agency that acts as landlord for state-owned property, since the former OGS Commissioner John Egan was also the chairman of the HRTDC this was not likely to be a problem. Plans to relocate state workers and privatize the campus have seen a further reversal as time has passed. Recently 200 employees of the Office of Real Property Services have been moved from downtown Albany to the campus, as well as plans for a new 3-story building to house a laboratory for 50 workers of the Department of Agriculture. Preliminary plans also call for a $100 million data center for the Department of Technology. Agriculture and Markets, the new Building # 6, is complete and occupied. Further, in 2015, the Office of General Services' Business Services Center moved into a renovated Building 5. In July 2016, New York State released a Request for Proposals for a 27-acre part of the Harriman Campus for sale to private investment. == Map ==