Courtesy Flaum Management Co
By Christine Graf
Rochester-based Flaum Management Co. Inc has secured its first tenant for Malta Grove, the former State Farm Operations Center located off Northway Exit 12 in Saratoga County.
The building sat empty for approximately two years before being purchased at auction by John Senese in March. Senese sold the building to Flaum Management for $2 million.
Flaum Management owns office, retail, and industrial properties throughout the state. In addition to the State Farm building, the company’s Capital Region holdings include Latham Farms and Queensbury Plaza. Pyramid Brokerage Co./Cushman & Wakefield has been enlisted as the building’s leasing agent.
The New York Unified Court System, 4th Judicial District, will be Malta Grove’s first tenant. The court is currently located at 65 South Broadway in the Lincoln Baths in Saratoga Springs. The 4th Judicial District is the state’s largest and includes Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Montgomery, Saratoga, Schenectady, St. Lawrence, Warren, and Washington counties.
The judicial offices will be located in approximately 23,000 square feet of space on the first floor of the two-story, 124,000-square-foot building. The offices will be used for administrative duties only and will contain no court rooms, officials said. The move to Malta Grove will allow the court to have the space necessary to consolidate several operations under one roof.
“We’ve got a signed lease, and we are finishing up drawings,” said Peter Struzzi of Pyramid Brokerage Co./Cushman & Wakefield. “Construction will probably take 10 to 12 weeks. Three months from now, they should be ready to occupy.”
The court will occupy one of what Struzzi refers to as the building’s four quads. Two are located on the first floor and two on the second. The remaining three quads as well as a 3,000-square-foot suite remain available. Spaces will be customized to meet the individual needs of each tenant.
“It really depends on the different tenants. You can have some pretty intricate buildouts, or you can have some very basic buildouts. We will look at everything and assist anyone. We offer space planning, so if you tell us you need 10 offices, a kitchen, and 3 conference rooms, and a mother’s room—that’s a big thing now for nursing mothers—we will price it out and we will make the space work for you,” said Struzzi. “Tenants tell us what they want and Mr. Flaum has a full team that does the design. And they can bid out construction. They are a very professional landlord, and they are very hands on.”
Tenants are given a tenant improvement allowance to offset the costs that are associated with customizing their office space.
“For a typical office environment, the tenant improvement allowance gets to you where you can turn the key, turn on the lights, and go to work,” said Struzzi.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the corporate real estate leasing market, Struzzi is confident that Malta Gardens will be very attractive to other tenants.
“We are incredibly aggressive with our pricing. We are typically 25 percent below the Class A market in the Capital District. And it’s a fabulous location,” he said.