By Andrea Harwood Palmer
Barbera Homes & Development will embark this year on a 132-unit condominium neighborhood in Clifton Park.
The 28-acre Park West community will be connected via sidewalks throughout leading to an open space common area, mail kiosk and gazebo, according to company president Frank Barbera.
The Park West project is comprised of 27 4-unit buildings, five 2-unit twin-style duplex buildings and 14 single-family homes. A combination of first floor master suites and one-floor, ranch-style homes will be the design for the 2- and 4-unit buildings. Single-family units will offer a contemporary colonial style.
Floor plans will be between 1,200 and 1,700 square feet.
The community is centrally located near the new round-about at routes 146 and 146A in Clifton Park, behind the Raven’s Wood Restaurant. Route 146 is a primary commercial corridor through the town.
Curtis Lumber Grows With Acquisition Of Wiley Brothers Lumber Yard In Schaghticoke
Curtis Lumber announced the acquisition of Wiley Brothers at 1854 Route 40 in Schaghticoke.
Wiley Brothers has been a family-owned lumber yard and home improvement store for 75 years.
Adding this new location brings the number of Curtis Lumber Co. locations to 23, all of which are independent, family-owned, full-service home centers and building supply yards.
Officials said moving forward, the store location will carry Curtis Lumber’s premium products, superior hardware assortment, and be staffed with the expertise to cater to both builders and homeowners.
Curtis Lumber has long served the area with delivery service from nearby stores and this acquisition will serve to increase delivery and product availability to more of Rensselaer county.
Estimating The Costs For Construction Projects Is A Difficult Task During COVID
By Christine Graf
Economists and industry experts predict that the construction industry will continue to be plagued by rising material costs, material shortages and supply chain disruptions throughout 2021.
“The price increases are pretty drastic,” said Sara Turoczy, manager of business development at MLB Construction Services in Malta. “Along with lumber, we are seeing steel pricing skyrocket.”
MLB is a commercial builder. When the pandemic hit, they were working on projects for several customers including Saratoga Performing Art Center. The work at SPAC included construction of a two-story concession and venue space, as well as a smaller concessions building and an outdoor pavilion.
In addition to continuing work on projects that were underway, MLB took on numerous last-minute projects.
“We’ve been able to take on emergency calls in everything from medical to the hospitality industry,” said Turoczy. “In the beginning, when no one really knew protocol or what needed to happen, healthcare was really scrambling to try to do the best that they could to section people in the right areas and keep everyone safe.”
When company president Jim Dawsey received an emergency call from Wesley Health Care Center in Saratoga, he and a crew of workers were there the next day to build a space for the center to house COVID patients.
“Jim took the call on Friday, and he was up there on Saturday morning building it out himself with a small crew of people,” said Turoczy.
MLB, a company with 66 employees and a second office in North Carolina, works in many different sectors of the construction industry and frequently bids on large projects. According to Turoczy, an increasing number of these projects are being postponed. She said state agencies are not currently awarding contracts.
“There is some uncertainty of whether some project will move forward at all. We haven’t had any projects that have been specifically canceled. They have just all been postponed—at least the ones we were looking at,” she said. “For the most part, we are just being told that these projects are being postponed and reevaluated.”
These postponements can have major implications for companies that are bidding on jobs. If the owner of a project delays the awarding of the contract, there is the potential for material prices to increase dramatically during that time frame.
“Since we have to hold our (bid) number, it becomes a challenge when the prices keep increasing between the bid due date and months later when the project gets awarded,” said Turoczy. “We are nearing the third month of being asked by one owner to hold our price.”
Construction Starting On 24-Unit Luxury Condos On Henry Street In Saratoga Springs
Courtesy Design Logic Architects PC
By Jennifer Farnsworth
The condo market in Saratoga has been thriving over the past decade. Robert Bucher Jr.’s company, Design Logic Associates PC, is planning a condo development on a half-acre lot on Henry Street in Saratoga Springs that he says will be a type of condo that Saratoga has not seen before.
The project is at 128 Henry St.
“This project is different in terms of style. These condos will be very modern and unlike anything else in the city,” he said.
Saratoga Eagle’s Sales And Service Growth Leads To Plans To Expand Its Warehouse
©2020 Saratoga Photographer.com
By Rachel Phillips
After years of growth, Saratoga Eagle Sales and Service is expanding its Saratoga warehouse.
Saratoga Eagle Sales and Service is a beverage distributor, which delivers products to restaurants, pubs, convenience stores, grocery stores, concert venues and other retailers all over the area.
Currently, they provide service in counties from Albany, Schoharie and Rensselaer all the way up to Franklin County.
Recently, the company acquired Plattsburgh Distributing in Clinton County, prompting the need for more storage space, officials said. The warehouse, located at 45 Duplainville Road in Saratoga Springs, will be expanded 30,000 square feet, and will then encompass a total of 165,000 square feet to help meet increased demand.
Housing Authority, Norstar Development To Partner On Affordable Housing Project
Courtesy Balzer & Tuck Architecture
by Andrea Palmer
The Saratoga Housing Authority is partnering with Norstar Development on a 63-unit affordable workforce housing project in Saratoga Springs.
When Paul Feldman took over as authority executive director he was asked to serve on a task force to address the affordable housing needs in the city. As the task force started looking, there was not much available land on which to develop housing.
“I realized I had some land already owned by the Housing Authority, under a declaration of trust, that we could develop. We had three acres of land behind the Stonequist high-rise. It was basically going unused other than a picnic area out there for Stonequist residents, and some community gardens,” said Feldman.
Skidmore Is Planning A New Fitness Center
Skidmore College is planning to build a two-story fitness and tennis center on its 315-acre Saratoga Springs campus.
The college is working with Consigli Construction of Albany, The LA Group landscape architecture firm of Saratoga Springs and Barton & Loguidice in Colonie to design the project.
Plans filed with the city Planning Board call for a 50,000-square-foot building with weight rooms, offices, locker rooms and four indoor tennis courts.
The college, located off North Broadway, also is in the midst of constructing a multiphase Center for Integrated Sciences. The 58,000-square-foot first phase, scheduled to be finished this year, will include 58 laboratories and classrooms.
Condominium Project On West Avenue In Saratoga Will Include First-Floor Retail Space
©2019 Saratoga Photographer.com
By Jill Nagy
The land is cleared and the footings and foundations are going in for a new luxury condominium development at 116 West Ave. about a mile west of downtown Saratoga Springs.
When completed, West Condominiums will include 34 two-bedroom residences, 4,100 square feet of retail space, and amenities including a rooftop swimming pool and underground parking.
The developers are waiting for final approval of their offering plan from the Office of the Attorney General, according to Scott Varley, a licensed real estate broker with the Scott Varley Team Keller Williams Capital District, who is marketing the project. If all goes well, a model unit will be available in about a year, he said.
Renovation Is In Full Swing At Universal Preservation Hall On Washington Street
Courtesy Universal Preswervation Hall
By Jill Nagy
The large Victorian gothic building on Washington Street, once a church, stands empty except for construction workers. However, Teddy Foster, campaign director for the Universal Preservation Hall, which now owns the building, can already see it as the home of a 700-seat theater-in-the-round, a year-round venue for performances and community events.
Furthermore, the campaign she heads is within $300,000 of meeting its $5.5 million goal to pay for this phase of the transformation.
The theater, with a 45-foot-high ceiling, will occupy the second floor of the building. Community space and an atrium will be on the lower floor.
Curtis Lumber Staff Tracks Development Projects, Help Companies Find Right Products
©2019 Saratoga Photographer.com
By Greg Hitchcock
It all started with a sawmill. In 1827, Captain Isaac Henry Curtiss built his sawmill on Charlton Road and by it’s 125th anniversary in 2015, Curtis Lumber Co. grew to over 600 employees in 21 locations in New York and northern Vermont.
It had $200 million in sales in 2018, according to the company.
Aside from selling materials, part of the company’s effort goes to working with builders and design teams to see what projects are going on and how Curtis Lumber can help them.
Margie Miller, architectural representative for Curtis Lumber, said the company’s success couldn’t have happened without a strong, knowledgeable sales team and good customer service from the Curtis Lumber team.