Category Archives: Uncategorized

By Christine Graf
Two months after announcing the permanent closure of their location in Malta, Wired Coffee Roasters has opened a coffee shop in the newly-renovated Roosevelt II Baths and Spa in Saratoga Spa State Park.
The ribbon cutting took place on July 20.
According to owner Marty Michele (pronounced Michael), the closing of the Malta location was heavily influenced by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We had a nice run there, but it just wasn’t viable for us to survive,” he said.
Although the Malta closure was unexpected, Michele said plans to open a shop in the park were already in motion. He received notification in February that Wired had won a statewide bidding process and had been selected to occupy space in the Roosevelt II. As part of their agreement, the park receives a portion of monthly sales in lieu of rent.

By Christine Graf

Quad Graphics plans to invest $45 million in plant upgrades and was recently awarded $1.05 million in tax incentives from the Saratoga County Industrial Development Agency (IDA).

The company said it will be installing two state-of-the-art commercial printing presses in its Saratoga Springs plant where they print magazines, catalogs, and retail print inserts.

As part of the incentive package, Quad said it will save $211,000 in sales tax on equipment purchases. It will save an additional $105,000 a year in property tax as part of a 10-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement that freezes Quad’s property assessment.

According to Rod Sutton, IDA chairman, Quad Graphics approached the agency in October. At that time, the Saratoga Springs plant was one of 10 in the U.S. being considered as the location for the new presses. Quad Graphics has more than 35 plants in the U.S. and also has plants in Latin America and Europe.

By Andrea Harwood Palmer

Joyce Locks has consolidated her three Hatsational storefronts into two. The remaining stores are located at 508 and 510 Broadway in downtown Saratoga Springs, in the Algonquin Building near the Saratoga City Center.

The lease was up on the third store, but was not renewed to cut costs.

“It will put me in a stronger position to come out on the other side of this pandemic, if I scale down to two stores for now,” said Locks. “As my lease came due, I had this vision that we wouldn’t open anytime soon. Then when you consider there are no conventions, no weddings, no concerts, no racetrack,” she said. “My business is driven by all of those factors.”

“I intend to survive this, and this is the best way for me to come out strong. We can always open a third store another time,” said Locks.

By Susan E. Campbell
Prime Group, a real estate investment company and a major owner/operator of self-storage units, plans to build a six-story building on Broadway in Saratoga Springs that would become its new office spaces and house other tenants.
The company has outgrown its office space at 85 Railroad Place in Saratoga Springs and is planning to relocate headquarters to the new construction on Broadway, opposite Congress Park, according to founder and chief executive Bob Moser.
The structure’s design calls for six stories with two levels of underground parking.
“Our staff will occupy the top two floors and the rest will be rented,” said Moser. “Tenants will be service providers such as lawyers, accountants and the types of companies Prime works with,” he said. “We are a relationship driven company.”
The administrative staff in Saratoga Springs is upward of 70 now and will grow to more than 100 by the time the building takes occupancy, he said.
“One hundred percent of the operation will be at the new site, including acquisitions, management, executive, and leasing staff,” said Moser.
On April 30, Moser’s team met by video with the city Planning Board to present its mixed-use, $25 million project at 269 Broadway, on one-half acre of raw land purchased by Moser from the personal portfolio of Tom Roohan of Roohan Realty, he said.

by Andrea Palmer

April Fresh Cleaning celebrated 20 years in business this year by expanding its services into carpet and floor cleaning, as well as mold, water, fire and smoke damage mitigation.

The company specializes in commercial janitorial services, commercial and residential floor cleaning and upholstery cleaning.

April Fresh Cleaning recently purchased a new Butler carpet cleaner. The van-powered system allows them to clean carpet, upholstery, tile and grout, and other stone flooring. They recently finished the certification classes for water, mold, fire and smoke remediation.

Owner April Weygand began the company as a sole proprietor. She held side jobs as a cleaner since she was a child.

By Greg Hitchcock

A long-unsed lot on Putnam Street is proposed for the site of a new condominium project in Saratoga Springs.

A design concept by First Fairfield of Connecticut, the $30 million project includes a six-story condominium building and community center at 53 Putnam St., across the street from Saratoga Springs Public Library.

The company said the building will consist of mid-range apartment condominiums, with the hopes of attracting young artists and entrepreneurs.

Laura Manning vice president and COO of First Fairfield, which has an office in Saratoga Springs,  said based on findings from soil remediation of the original property—an abandoned warehouse that at one time housed a dry cleaner before C&B Sanitation used the building to store garbage trucks in the 1980s and 90s—the project had to be scaled back.

“Our original plan when we got approval from the city was to keep the existing building and develop it out,” Manning said.

Because of the age of the building and its location in a historic district, Manning said the company decided to take the whole building down and start from scratch.

“We are hoping to keep the first floor to have some type of commercial aspect to it and above would be condos,” Manning said. “We are figuring how many floors we can go up to be economically viable.”