By Christine Graf
Anthony Caruso, president of Saratoga-Springs based Caruso Builders, has plans to build townhomes at Sage Estates, a subdivision at 2782 Route 9 in Malta.
Caruso purchased the land for the subdivision for $2.38 million from 3D Lundy LTD, a company controlled by Dean DeVito. DeVito, principal of Prime Companies, first submitted the proposal for Sage Estates to the Malta Planning Board in November 2018. In 2022, he received approval to build 34 two-family homes on the property.
Although this will be the first townhouse project for Caruso, his company has been building homes throughout the Capital Region since 2009. For the past five years, the majority of the projects have been in Saratoga County and downtown Saratoga Springs.
“I mostly do semi-custom to full-custom builds, and we’ve got a very high-end project in phase 2 of Oak Ridge,” he said.
Oak Ridge, an upscale residential development, is located just east of Saratoga National Golf Course. One of Caruso’s Oak Ridge homes, a 3,700-square-foot house located at 23 Jenna Jo Avenue, will be featured in the 2023 Saratoga Showcase of Homes.
Sage Estates will be comprised of 34 two-family residential lots, and there will be several different floor plans for the 68 units that will be available for sale.
He said one of these plans will feature a master bedroom on the first floor, something that is expected to appeal to empty nesters and snowbirds who are looking for a less expensive alternative to living in downtown Saratoga Springs.
“Sage Estates has such nice proximity to downtown Saratoga and SPAC and the Northway,” said Caruso. “It’s going to be a beautiful project, and my plan is to do a slightly higher-end townhome. We’re still working out the details of exactly what will be included in the HOA (homeowners association) — whether it will be a fully maintenance-free exterior.”
Because the design work is in the early stages, a selling price for the units has not been finalized. Caruso anticipates that it will be at or around $600,000.
“We are going to try to stay between the $500,000 and $600,000 range, and we are working on having a few different floor plans. I would like to keep it under $600,000, but it’s hard to say exactly where they are going to land,” he said.
Infrastructure work at Sage Estates is already underway, and construction for a model home is expected to begin in the fall.
“I’m going to get rolling right away, and I’ll probably build 4 to 6 units whether they are sold or not,” said Caruso, noting that demand for new construction remains strong.
“We’re not a homebuilder that relies on 40 to 50 closings a year, so I can’t speak for those who have high volume. We range between 15 and 20 homes at any given time, and our demand is steady. I think Saratoga County as a whole is in somewhat of a bubble when it comes to the real estate market. There’s still a lot of pent up demand,” he said.
According to Caruso, his company continues to struggle with supply chain issues that originated at the height of the COVID pandemic. “They’ve gotten better in some areas, but for the most part, it’s still somewhat difficult. We’ve more or less adapted to it by changing the way we process things on our end.”
While lumber costs have come down, they have not returned to pre-pandemic levels. As for other materials, he said prices continue to rise.
“I’m getting price increases every week on various things, most recently roofing material and accessories have spiked another 10 percent,” he said.
“It’s causing real problems for people who are looking for affordable housing. Thirty years ago, a developer didn’t have to go through the things we have to go through today to get a piece of property developed. Between all of the studies, engineering, back and forth with town for months or years on end, the price of land, the skyrocketing material costs—when you put that all together, there’s nothing a builder can do to today to provide people with affordable housing unless there is some sort of grant or incentive provided by the state or government.”
The skilled labor shortage adds an additional challenge to builders such as Caruso who rely on subcontractors.
“The labor pool for my vendors and subcontractors is not improving whatsoever,” he said.