By Barbara Pinckney
The owners of The Algonquin Building in
downtown Saratoga Springs expect to begin
marketing new apartments in the 127-year old
edifice sometime next spring.
Tenants should be able to move into the 29
high-end apartments by next summer, said
Larry Novik, director of business development
for Bonacio Construction, the Saratoga
Springs-based firm handling the renovation
of the structure for The Algonquin Building
LLC.
Novik said construction work at the Algonquin,
at 510 Broadway, will be getting
underway by August. The project will focus
on the upper floors, turning the 45 current
apartments into 29 two-, three- and four bedroom
units.
“We are trying to respect the history of
the building, and we’re opening up some of
the smaller units into larger units,” he said.
Novik said apartments will be “market
rate,” meaning they will be in the same price
range as other apartments in the same area.
He said the owners are not targeting any
particular type of tenant, but expect to draw
a mix of people. Former tenants, many of whom were
Skidmore College students, were asked to
move out last spring.
The new apartments will not only be
larger, but will be upgraded with granite
kitchens, hardwood floors in the common
areas, and new appliances.
“I think the most important thing about
them is they will be thoroughly modern units while really respecting the history of the
building,” Novik said.
The Algonquin, owned by the Aronson
family for six decades, was built in 1892 to be
exactly what it is now–an apartment building
with retail shops on the ground floor.
“That was pretty adventurous at the time,
as I understand it,” Novik said. “You didn’t
see a lot of that. And it is kind of funny that
over 100 years later we are returning to that
trend in Saratoga.”
The first-floor shops will remain open
throughout construction, although Novik
said some may shift position. Tenants include
A Silver Breeze jewelry shop, Kitchen
Dimensions design services, Hat-Sational
hat shop, and Common Thread Saratoga
Yarn Shop.
Novik said the lobby and other interior
areas of the building, which encompasses
about 74,000 square feet, will be refurbished
and a new elevator will be installed. Utility
systems also will be upgraded.
Other than that, there will be little change.
“We’re doing a lot of work to respect the
original woodwork and original building
features,” Novik said.
The central atrium, which rises the full
height of the six-story building, will remain
“exactly as is.”
The sidewalk in front of the building will
be redone, with radiant heat added to keep
it clear of snow in the winter, but the façade
will not change.
“There is a little bit of damage on the
outside we will obviously repair,” Novik said.
“But other than that it will look the same. We
can’t improve on that.”