SpringCity Development
By Paul Post
One of the area’s leading contractors is diversifying into the Spa City’s hospitality industry with the acquisition of the former Longfellows , which will be rebranded as the Brookmere hotel, spa and restaurant.
SpringCity Development, a subsidiary of Saratoga Springs-based Bonacio Construction, plans a $30 million overhaul of the property, which includes its $4.9 million purchase from business partners Steve Sullivan and David Powers. That occurred in January.
Located at 500 Union Ave., near Saratoga Lake, Longfellows had been a destination for dining, special events and large-group gatherings for many years.
“It’s been a wonderful business for its entire history,” Bonacio spokesman Larry Novick said. “We’re looking to continue working with what draws people to the Saratoga region and the wonderful location the current property holds. A portion of the existing building will be demolished and replaced in order to accommodate a larger room count (from 50 to 88 hotel rooms). We’ll also be reconfiguring the restaurant and ballroom components.”
The project is expected to be completed just over a year from now by autumn 2024.
“We need to obtain land use approvals and we’re waiting for the issuance of demolition and building permits,” Novick said.
Bonacio Construction is credited with developing nearly a half-billion dollars worth of new projects during the past 30 years including 450 condominiums and 1,285 apartments. Its reach now expands far beyond Saratoga Springs, from Troy to the Adirondacks.
Brookmore is its second venture into the hospitality industry this year. In mid-June it opened a new four-season resort, the Lodge at Schroon Lake, a more than $20 million investment on 36 acres previously owned by Word of Life. Guests may choose from 121 rooms in a hotel rooms cabins or chalets.
Both properties will be managed by Hay Creek Hotels, based in Exeter, N.H., a hospitality investment and management firm that has 30 independent hotels on the East Coast from Maine to Alabama.
Many hospitality- and tourism-related businesses have had a hard time finding sufficient numbers of employees in recent years. Novick said Hay Creek is responsible for all staffing and that it successfully filled all 50 positions in Schroon Lake.
It’s uncertain yet how many people will be employed at Brookmere, but Novick said Hay Creek will fill those slots as well.
Bonacio Construction owners Sonny and Julie Bonacio bought Longfellows with investment partner Mark Howarth. The sale had been under discussion for the past three years.
The 90,500-square-foot Brookmere will be considerably larger than the 65,000-square-foot former Longfellows. The ballroom will handle up to 200 guests and a restaurant, still to be named, that will have capacity for 65 people, both hotel guests and the general public.
Novick said the hotel and restaurant will have a “kind of a timeless Saratoga style” done by Sims Patrick Studio, an Atlanta interior design firm introduced to Bonacio by Hay Creek.
“We’re very impressed with their portfolio,” he said.
Bonacio is working with Balzer & Tuck Architecture and The LA Group Landscape Architecture & Engineering, both of Saratoga Springs, on the Brookmere project’s design.
On another front, SpringCity Development is also pursuing plans for 23 new condominiums built on the site of Church Street retail flooring shop in Saratoga Springs.
Novick declined to discuss the project, but plans reportedly call for razing Torrell’s Carpetland at 78 Church St. to make room for a five-story building with condominiums and 1,600 square feet of first-floor commercial space.
78 Church Street LLC, an affiliate of Bonacio, bought the property last October for $1.4 million.