ROTTERDAM — When small businesses quickly snapped up the Galesi Group’s flexible space in Albany County, Dave Buiko saw the opportunity.

The company’s chief operating officer said the market seemed good for light-industrial tenants searching for space to locate offices, a showroom and storage. So Galesi transformed the cavernous Building 3 in the Rotterdam Corporate Park into what state and local officials are calling a small business hub — conveniently near the Thruway and Interstate 88.

Using $2 million in state funding from the Restore NY Communities Initiatives, Galesi transformed the 270,000-square-foot building in the mammoth complex to accommodate up to two dozen small to mid-sized businesses. Buiko said the project came after the park on Duanesburg Road received multiple requests for space smaller than 15,000 square feet.

“It really is designed to serve an underserved market,” he said during a news conference Tuesday inside one of the new spaces.

The project also benefited from a $100,000 industrial redevelopment grant awarded through National Grid. In addition to the state assistance, Galesi invested $1 million of its own.

Buiko said this latest investment is among more than $50 million worth of economic development projects at the park, including Price Chopper’s $15 million, 152,000-square-foot refrigerated warehouse, FedEx Freight’s $6 million regional hub and the $18 million Railex food distribution center. He said the small business hub is part of a long-term plan Galesi has to best use the park’s 4 million square feet of building space.

Building 3 is among 14 that made up the Army depot during World War I and World War II. Like many of the buildings, the sprawling brick structure was once served by rail lines and could not accommodate tractor-trailers. But with state funding, Galesi was able to demolish the old concrete rail loading docks and install diagonal bays that can receive 53-foot trailers. In addition, the company had all of the exterior utilities placed underground, allowing the poles to be removed and providing greater access for trucks.

Galesi also improved the facade of the building to include glass-door entrances to each space. Buiko said the new spaces will offer companies the opportunity to grow their businesses as they see fit.

“It could be warehousing, it could be a showcase, it could be offices,” he said. “It’s the ultimate in flexibility.

Buiko said the state funding allowed Galesi to complete the project while keeping the cost of renting space affordable. Absent this funding, he said the renovation would have made rents at the building cost-prohibitive.

Galesi and Rotterdam officials had originally aimed to redevelop two of the park’s buildings and had applied for $4 million of Restore NY funding. Buiko said the project was trimmed after the company received only half of what they had requested.

State Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, R-Schenectady, credited cooperation among state, county and local agencies for the success of the project. He said this partnership should serve as an example for the effort to cultivate business across the state.

“I know it looks empty here,” he said, looking around one of the 11,000-square-foot spaces, “but I think you’ll see a fair amount of businesses that are going to want to come here.”

Rotterdam Supervisor Steve Tommasone said the new flexible space should help draw more business to the park, which in turn will create more jobs in the town.

“We want to have the community grow and improve our quality of life,” he said. “We can’t do that without good jobs.”