GUILDERLAND — Christopher Laviano has been through a year of the best and worst life has to offer.
On April 2, his wife, Lucia, gave birth to their third child. Vincent James Laviano joins 1- and 3-year-old brothers.

“The third one was a surprise but we’re grateful,” said Laviano on April 3.

Last Oct. 19, his father died unexpectedly. Laviano is naming his newly completed complex on Western Avenue the Joseph J. Laviano Plaza in honor of his father.

His father was an Albany police officer who retired in 1996. Laviano plans to work the number of his father’s detective badge, #11, into the apartment numbers somehow.

“My dad helped me with design, layouts, things like that,” said Laviano. “He watched all the meetings with the town. He would read all your articles. So I decided that was the best way to carry his legacy on … He was extremely proud of me, of what I accomplished at, you know, 33 years old.”

The Joseph J. Laviano Plaza at 1859-1871 Western Ave. includes Laviano Wine & Liquor, which was already in place at 1871 Western Ave. The new 8,500-square-foot building next to the liquor store has two offices and retail space on the first floor and apartments on the second floor.

Laviano is waiting to hear back from the State Liquor Authority on moving his liquor store into the new building, which he thinks will take about six months. He’ll then rent the former liquor-store space, he said, which is already zoned for retail

Laviano’s real-estate office is also in the new building.

“I wasn’t getting much traction for office space,” he said, so he has filed with the town for a rezone that would allow retail.

“I have a few contenders that are interested in that space as retail,” said Laviano.

All four apartments on the second floor were filled within a month of receiving the certificate of occupancy, he said.

Laviano said what he is most proud of with his new complex is that it was largely built by town residents. “That was probably the most amazing part … being able to contribute to the community that way,” he said. Laviano, who grew up in Guilderland, added, “Some of them I even went to school with. They’re similar in age to me.”

Among the town residents who contributed to the construction, he named: Matt Beliveau of MTB Excavating, who did the site work and stormwater system; Mark Beliveau, Matt’s brother, of Beliveau Mechanical, who did the heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, and plumbing; and Ro Andres of Precision Geo, who did the surveying.

Also: Onofrio Ottomanelli of Ottomanelli Property Solutions, who did the hardscaping and landscaping; Ryan Barbara of Barbara Concrete Inc. who did the foundation work; Ibrahim Din of Northeast Stucco System who did the exterior façade of stucco; and Adam Rosen of A.E. Rosen, who did the electrical work.

Laviano also owns property across the street from the Joseph J. Laviano Plaza, at 1854 Western Ave. He was able to get the zoning on that 1.14-acre property changed from Single-Family Residential to Local Business.

Originally, Lalviano had wanted to convert just the front half of the property to Local Business and build two houses in back, but he re-did his application to rezone the entire lot.

Laviano told the town board late in 2023 that he had spoken to neighbors of the property and concluded it would be better for the community to “preserve greenspace” on the residential side of the lot rather than “just throwing up a couple more houses.”

Laviano this week called it “awesome” that he was able to get that property rezoned.

Asked about his plans for 1854 Western Ave., he said, “My plan is to develop sooner rather than later.”

But, he said, during the process of constructing the Joseph J. Laviano Plaza, “I was very hands-on … I personally framed the majority of it. I was on site every day … It’s been hard to grieve,” he said of his father’s death, “because, you know, it’s a busy, busy time for me with the construction, my wife being pregnant, and now having a child.”

He concluded, “So, I think what I’m going to do with that lot is take the rest of the year off to really focus on growing the businesses, getting the liquor store transitioned over to the new space, focus on my real-estate company, my agents, and then next year start looking at designing and implementing some sort of property that fits what the Westmere Corridor really needs.”