Category Archives: Construction Planning

By Paul Post

Rob DeMarco’s firm, AgroChem, got a toehold in the dairy industry with a foot bath solution that keeps cows healthy and productive.

The product, Healmax, is now one of about 100 hygiene and sanitizing products the Saratoga Springs-based company sells to farms throughout the U.S. and around the globe from China and Japan to Eastern and Western Europe.

“Most people don’t realize just how big the dairy industry is in the U.S. and the world, and how many hygiene-type products are required,” said DeMarco, who founded AgroChem with his father, John, in 2005.

Dairy, with about 3,500 farms, is the largest component of New York’s $5 billion agriculture industry. Nationwide there are nearly 9.2 million milk cows and New York ranks fifth in production behind California, Wisconsin, Idaho and Texas.

In response to fast-paced growth and a quest for more efficient operations, AgroChem has plans for a 25,000-square-foot addition to the firm’s 36,000-square-foot facility at W. J. Grande Industrial Park, which it moved into seven years ago after starting out in a trailer and small rented space.

By Paul Post

By some estimates there are 1,500 unfilled jobs in and around Saratoga Springs including vital positions such as teachers, police, firefighters, nurses and public works employees.

Part of the problem, local officials say, stems from lack of housing that allows people to live where they work.

A Central New York firm’s proposal, called Liberty Saratoga Apartments, could help the  situation by providing 212 affordable housing units at the corner of Jefferson Street and Crescent Avenue, near Saratoga Casino Hotel.

“The need is huge,” said Stephanie Ferradino, an attorney for Rome, N.Y.-based Liberty Affordable Housing Inc. “The more housing we have, the better able we are to meet that need. Look at the hospitality industry. So many restaurants now aren’t open seven days per week, in part because they can’t find the staff.”

Ferradino, of Saratoga Springs, said the 250-unit Intrada Apartments off West Avenue had a wait list of 300 applicants last summer. 

“They’re full,” she said. “They went to capacity almost as soon as they were built.

The Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex Board of Cooperative Educational Services (WSWHE BOCES) announced a new name and direction for its Career and Technical Education (CTE) machine tool technology program.

The new title—Industrial and Performance Machining—reflects the industry today and better positions the program to prospective students, officials said.

Officials said the program places a heavy emphasis on high-tech equipment and precision in the machining of component parts for automobiles, performance vehicles, industrial machines, and more. This consists of fabricating component parts to specification for these applications using milling, drilling, grinding, and boring machines.

While “Machine Tool Technology” is often used by technical colleges, WSWHE BOCES administration and educators said that students did not immediately identify the program in line with career goals.

By Christine Graf

Gail Krause and Jeffrey Gordon, partners on Park Place on the Peninsula on the Mohawk River in Halfmoon, were awarded $2.8 million in tax incentives for their proposed $44 million, 244-unit apartment complex. 

Krause is local realtor and former owner of Krause’s Restaurant & Grove, and Gordon is the co-owner of Albany-based Gordan Companies which manages several million square feet of commercial, retail, and residential space. They specialize in creating “affordable luxury.” 

Krause’s plans for the 36-acre parcel of land have changed over the years to meet the demands of the market. She has been working to develop the property for more than fifteen years.

“Back in 2004 or 2005, it was going to be condos,” she said. “I got my approvals for condos, and when the market for condos went bad, I decided not to do condos anymore and started working on apartments around 2008. It was all market driven.”

Four years ago, Krause partnered with Gordon whose brother, Dave Gordon, was involved in the project before his retirement. Although it is Krause’s first major development project, Gordon Companies has numerous luxury apartments in their portfolio including Park Place at Saratoga and Park Place at Wilton.

One of the project’s major hurdles involved the installation of an approximate three-mile sewer extension along Beach, Clamsteam, and Dunsbach roads. The extension will benefit the town because other commercial properties will have the ability to tie into it in the future. Total infrastructure improvements costs for the property are projected at $7.7 million.

Micheli Contracting of Rensselaer started clearing the land and prepping it for construction in 2019. All work was halted due to the pandemic, but crews are back on the job site. Installation of the off-site sewer is currently underway and could be completed by May or June. 

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) announced that it will unveil a new hospitality area for the 2022 summer meet as part of a continuing series of capital improvements at Saratoga Race Course.

The Post Bar and Paddock Suite will be a new, permanent two-story structure that will replace and enhance the original Post Bar, a  single-story, open air gathering spot for racing fans that had been located beneath a temporary canopy.

The second story Paddock Suite will feature a climate-controlled bar, lounge and outdoor balcony with sweeping views of the historic Saratoga paddock where fans can watch the sport’s finest thoroughbreds parade beneath them. The Paddock Suite will be available to groups and individuals by reservation.

The Paddock Suite will sit above the newly renovated Post Bar which will remain an open-air structure featuring a central bar and large-scale televisions. The Post Bar, one of the most popular destinations for fans at Saratoga, will continue to be accessible to all guests, ages 21 and over.

“We are thrilled to announce this newest capital improvement project which we anticipate will be very well received by fans attending Saratoga this summer,” said NYRA vice president of sales and hospitality Kevin Quinn. “The renovated Post Bar and newly constructed Paddock Suite follows on the heels of last year’s additions, the Spa Verandas and Tailgate at the Turn. These improvements are designed to offer our fans the best in modern amenities while preserving the charm and history that set Saratoga apart as a sports and entertainment venue.”

The second floor Paddock Suite can accommodate as many as 80 guests. Rental packages will be sold to groups on a full or partial basis. Rental includes admission, choice of food platters, non-alcoholic beverages, coffee and tea, tax, gratuity and race program. Open bar packages are also available for purchase.

By Paul Post

Stewart’s Shops is pursuing another year of aggressive capital improvements with projects at 20 sites including several in Saratoga County.

Plans call for stores in seven new markets and replacing older buildings with large new facilities at 13 locations, the company said.

This comes on the heels of $50 million the Saratoga Springs-based company spent last year for construction on 18 shops, of which 12 were replacements. The other six previously belonged to the Central New York-based Blueox Neighborhood Market convenience store chain, which Stewart’s purchased and rebranded as its own.

But retail shop upgrades are only one part of the company’s capital program. “We are continuing to invest in our manufacturing facility in Greenfield,” spokesperson Erica Komoroske said. “We recently completed a 54,000-square-foot dry warehouse expansion project and we are currently expanding our deli cooler to address our ever growing customer demand for expanded food-to-go options.”

Founded in 1945, Stewart’s is among the Top 25 convenience store chains in America with 354 shops across 32 counties in New York and Vermont. Its territory stretches from Canton near the Canadian border, west to Oswego County, south to Orange County in the lower Hudson Valley, and east to Rutland, Vt.

The firm employs about 5,000 people, 4,400 in shops and 600 between its manufacturing and administrative departments.

Dun & Bradstreet Business Directory says Stewart’s has gross sales of about $1.67 billion per year.

The trustees of the Saratoga County History Center raised some $30,000 in 2021 through its  Preserve the Porch! campaign.

In November and December of 2021, the officials said the campaign yielded $20,720.  Moreover, an anonymous donor agreed to match funds up to $10,000.00, making the total amount raised $30,720.

The museum is located at 6 Charlton St., Ballston Spa.

The funds will go directly to replacing storm windows and repairing Brookside Museum’s iconic front porch.

Built in 1792, just four years after the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, and remodeled in the 1830s in the popular Greek Revival style. But the grand piazza is in need of reconstruction. Specifically, all the front steps and floor boards, ruined by rot and mold, need to be replaced, as well as the deck frame supporting the floor, officials said. In addition, the entire portico needs to be rebuilt for proper drainage, and the earth beneath should be covered with plastic and pea stone to reduce future moisture.  The crisis concerns both safety and appearance.

“The response from the county and beyond has been astounding,” said history center president Field Horne.  “We went hat-in-hand to our friends and neighbors, asking them to help  us save this awe-inspiring façade and important piece of local history, and they rallied and responded well-beyond our expectations.”  

“Support for our ‘Preserve the Porch!’ campaign is a major win for the Saratoga County History Center,” said Sean Kelleher, vice president of membership and community engagement. “The ability to fund the restoration of the iconic porch and storm windows will provide stabilization for the Brookside Museum in the future, and will allow visitors to safely access the museum,  grounds and library for generations to come.

By Paul Post

A Warrensburg car dealership is planning an early summer move into a spacious new facility, nearly triple the size of its current home.

Krystal Chrysler Jeep Dodge is relocating from a less than 8,000-square-foot site at 4488 Route 9, to a 21,000-square-foot building 2.5 miles closer to the village, adjacent to Oscar’s Smokehouse, one of the North Country’s most popular retail stores.

Owner Steve Lofrgren said the move is necessitated by business growth spurred by the popularity of the Ram and Jeep brands, and the need for larger service capacity.

Lofgren said Krystal clients come from throughout the surrounding area including Warren, Saratoga, Washington and Essex counties. 

“We get people from all over with help from the internet,” he said. “SUV and truck sales are 95 percent of our business. Ram is currently our best seller. Jeep production is moving forward as the availability of microchips is on the rise. By summer we should have fully stocked Jeep lineup.”

There are several other Chrysler Jeep Dodge dealerships in the region including Nemer, in Queensbury, but Lofgren said the new Warrensburg site will have unique features such as a Jeep-only showroom.

“We would be the only one north of Albany with this type of facility,” he said.

When facing the building, the Jeep showroom will take center stage in the middle. A separate showroom for Chrysler and Dodge vehicles will be on the left, with service to the right on the south end of the structure.