Two ponds on the property were originally created as reservoirs for fire suppression, since the factory was at the time it was built a considerable distance from the nearest firehouse.

[2] Over the later half of the 20th century, the company continued to prosper and expanded both its geographical reach and its product line, changing its name to Albany International in the process.

The area is primarily urban, transitioning from densely developed mixed commercial and residential use in a loose grid pattern of streets on the west to larger industrial facilities with undeveloped buffer to the east.

[5] The lot is rectangular, with the long axis running generally north–south parallel to Broadway on its west, which at the Wolfert Avenue intersection midway alongside becomes part of New York State Route 32.

Another pond, mostly rectangular in shape with an additional fence around it, is located in the southern portion of the space on the main building's west amidst the lawns around it.

The peaked roof has bracketed eaves wider than those on the main block; it is sheathed in metallic tile topped with a blunt finial.

[2][6] On either side of a low stone porch, two smooth columns with Corinthian capitals are topped by a molded cornice below a frieze with "Albany Felt Co." in the entablature.

[2][6] All other bays on the first floor are set with 12-over-12 double-hung sash windows with stone sills and splayed brick lintels with keystones.

Treatments on this wing are identical to those on the west, with the exception of the stone courses on the upper stories, all of which are plain and flush with the facade.

It is a modern steel and glass door sheltered by a front-gabled metal roof supported by two square brick pillars.

Fenestration on the first story otherwise consists of 18-pane rectangular casement in the bays on the first floor east of the entrance, and double versions of those windows with the lower 12 panes opening hopper style on the west.

On the north elevation two vertical bays of windows rise the full height, complemented on the south by two large loading dock doors.

They are considered contributing structures to the listing, as are the ponds on the south (the only significant resource on the property in the city of Albany) and west of the building.

Felt was a thriving industry in Albany at the time since the city was a center of papermaking in late 19th century America due to the proximity of the Adirondack Mountains and their expanses of evergreen softwood forests.

The textile material was necessary to clothe the Fourdrinier machines that had dominated industrial papermaking since the middle of the century, bracing the paper rolls and helping to dry them.

[2] With an initial investment of $40,000, the partners hired Fuller and leased space on Thacher Street in North Albany, almost a mile (1.6 km), south of the current buildings' location.

[2] The new site was, like the original one, close to major transportation routes such as the Watervliet Turnpike, complete with trolley lines, the Erie Canal and the Hudson River.

The Albany Northern Railroad's tracks ran just east of the site; it built a siding to accommodate construction of the building designed by the firm of Lockwood, Greene and Company.

The smaller of the two warehouses, originally sided in clapboard, was also constructed at the same time to store building materials after they were unloaded from the trains.

When the new building, designed to withstand the vibrations of the heavy machinery and consisting of the stair tower and the first section of the main plant, opened in 1902, the company had reached 150 employees.

To provide water to douse any flames, they diverted Rendert's Stream, a small tributary of the Hudson that flowed through the site, into a 390,000-US-gallon (1,500 m3) reservoir with fire hydrants to be used in such an event.

That year, the size of the plant was tripled with the extension to the northeast, using more modern window designs and steel framing as its structural system in order to better withstand the vibrations of the machines.

[2] The economic prosperity of the Roaring Twenties boosted demand for disposable paper products even higher, further spurring Albany Felt's growth.

Even then, Corning was anticipating that the explosive growth of the era would not persist, and made sure the company was operating at peak efficiency so as to better weather the inevitable recession.

By 1937 it had reached $3 million in annual sales, and expanded the main building yet again to triple its original size, adding the wing at the southeast.

A boardroom, whose original woodwork remains, was also created in the first floor of the administrative wing, with the bay window added on the north facade.

Corning, in his last years as president, had a new five-story warehouse built on the site of the old dye house to store raw materials.

Its headquarters remained in Albany, however, and some improvements were made to the interior, from adding a research laboratory in 1966 to an additional stair a decade later.

[2] By the early 21st century, with the company's operations increasingly international and concerned with materials besides industrial felt, even the need for headquarters staff was less evident.

In 2015 he announced plans to convert the building into 145-unit luxury apartments, and add amenities such as a preschool, outdoor pool, tennis courts and golf simulator.