AS OF LATE NOVEMBER, EARLY DECEMBER 2012… I can’t imagine there is any town in the entire Northeast, aside from NYC itself, that has this many commercial construction projects underway, not to mention those recently completed.
Most of the major projects, as usual, are under the aegis of Sonny Bonacio, in partnership with various other entities. He has finished the 124-apartment building on the site of the former Price Chopper parking lot on Railroad Place, and it now starting in on the already-famous 11-Screen Bowtie Cinema Complex at the north end of that site, abutting Church Street. He also erected the long-discussed and oft-delayed parking garage on Woodlwan Ave. in record time, once they let him get going this summer. Adding about 440-car free parking within a block of Broadway was pure genius by the City fathers, and will only help ignite the success that was already smoldering downtown.
Only someone of Sonny’s current stature (and no one before him, in my time here) could have gotten swiftly-approved permission to block off one lane of northbound traffic in the heart of the shopping district, between Gardiner Lane and Caroline Street. Like a mini-Manhattan construction site, the base pit was dug out 20 feet below street-level, it seemed, so that, when viewed from above, on the south side of the adjoining Walbridge Building, it looked like an archaeological site until they began pour concrete into it, marking the return of civilization on a spot where a badly-designed and then-decrepit parking lot had afforded the homeless a dangerous subterranean shelter for a brief span of recent Saratoga history.
Lillian’s Restaurant to its south, and The Cantina, to the north, are the ground-level businesses bearing the most proximite brunt of the construction impact, but they should benefit greatly in the aftermath of this grand “fill-in-the-gap” project. The billboard ads on the fortress-like wire-mesh fencing out front proclaim it will be built in “Summer 2013”, and Mr. Bonacio does not make idle promises along these lines. Another banner welcomes you to park instead at The NEW PARKING GARAGE ON WOODLAWN AVENUE, and given how hard a time I had finding a free-spot in said garage a few days ago, I’d say people were getting the message. I circled upward over 3 levels as you would in a pay-for-parking garage in Albany, and no space was available till I neared and hit the top. The four-story view from up there, looking over park of downtown and the backside of Broadway, proved to me once and for all that the Facade-Repair-Project signs I had seen adorning the main drag of this town in 1976 had resulted in this, roughly 36 years later– a substantial and mature, densely-compact City which is entering a new age of prosperity for the rest of the 21st century.
What you are seeing in Saratoga now is the culmination of a movement that was begun in the late-80’s really, when Bruce Levinsky started the condo-conversion trend of infilling the streetscape. Near downtown Mr. Levinsky turned a beautiful stone church at the top of Caroline Street and Circular into an 8-unit condo project, and did the same with another leftover church on the corner of Spring Street and Regent. He encountered considerable resistance as I recall– who was going to buy CONDOS in Saratoga Springs?? What a strange concept… and did battle in City Hall on many occasions with the powers-that-be and and disgruntled neighbors on these and other projects. But the sum total of his efforts was part of the move toward improvement in downtown Saratoga, no doubt about it.
But it worked with the churches, and buildings that were historic and architecturally unique were put back on the tax rolls and became the home of new-urban Saratogaphiles who wanted “to be within walking distance of downtown” and did not care to own their own lawnmower or snowblower. In fact, it attracted a type of person who travelled elsewhere in the “off-season” and yet wanted a place for summer use, which had always been a Saratoga tradition anyway. The difference with condos was that no upkeep was required in the 9 months the owner was away– for those that could afford the fee. Eventually, the idea caught on.
Mr. Levinsky went on to convert a few leftover original Skidmore Campus buildings on Union Avenue and Clark Street (formerly an arts building, with a stucco/tudor look to it) to condos as well, with varying degrees of success. The it seems almost a decade went by before Robert Israel picked up the concept and used it to continue the condo trend with a then-scruffy-looking lot on Railroad Place, perpendicular to Franklin Square. That was completed back around year 2000, and then Sonny Bonacio joined the fun and contributed 3 or 4 more projects to fill out that entire block on both sides, before he did 18 Division Street and then Congress Place, adjacent to Congress Park on the former site of the old (and beloved) YMCA.
But an infill project, or a downtown condo, is only as interesting as the urban scene– if any!– that surrounds it. The Bohemian scene that I first encountered here was represented by The Tin & Lint, The Parting Glass, Caffe Lena, D’Andrea’s Tavern (where Zack’s Stained Glass shop is now), The Golden Grill (now Bailey’s Cafe), Barclay’s (where Impressions of Saratoga, a gift and souvenir shop now holds forth), Sage’s Casa 13, Madame Jumel’s (now Dangos), The Montana Book Store, and Saratoga Trader’s (the protogenesis of Gaffney’s). There were also music joints like The (original) METRO, Our Place Pub, Jackslands, plus The Tin Shop, but not all of these survived– and this contingent slowly became augmented by more upscale places. Sperry’s and Lillian’s were always there for the semi-genteel set, but then came One Caroline Street, 42 Phila (now gone), Bailey’s Cafe, Wheatfields, and Maestro’s (when original owner Joe Devivo ran the place), paving the way for restaurants like Chianti’s I & II, Forno Toscano, Limoncello (in-filling the spot of an old KFC), Capriccio Saratoga (which was dubbed DINE before), and Max London’s. There now is a mix of old stand-bys mentioned above, and newer, always changing, competition. The Grey Gelding, Brindisi’s, and, recently, TizNow, are among those that have closed in recent years. Scallions, which once graced Broadway, occupying part of what is now Uncommon Grounds, moved over to Lake Avenue, just down the hill from the Fire Station. The Irish Times took over the great old brick building that long ago housed the Tin Shop at 14 Phila Street, and has seen a few brew pubs come and go since then. The Stadium Cafe a decade or so took over a spot on the west side of Broadway formerly occupied by a kind of countrified rock bar of ill-repute whose name escapes me. But I digress…
The point of this blog was supposed to be the current state of “infill” projects, but sometimes it turns into 35 years of memory lane.
Here are a few more spots changing as we speak:
The long-dormant Ellsworth Ice Cream plant, in the center of the westside, just a block west of Franklin Square, is now under demolition. The metal cooler sections were shredded for industrial grade recylcing, and they seemed to be sorting the massive debris field into wood frame components, concrete block & slabs, along with the metal pile. The brick section which was the original office bearing the founder’s name, remained last I had looked. The remainder of that entire block– bounded by Division/Beekman/& Cherry Streets, and Marvin Alley — seems to be getting cleared within its fenced area, including the large parking lot and paved truck storage area.
While some people bemoan the loss of a family-owned business that was an excellent local employer and a vivid part of west-side life for a good part of the past century in Saratoga Springs, the changeover was inevitable, really. The plant had been a bit outmoded for years, and closed down four years ago. As witnessed by what I detailed in my last real estate-related blog– 50 or 60 foot wide lots going for
$100K or more nearby– this patch of land was too valuable to sit dormant for long.
The same improvement that took place 12 years ago on Grand Avenue– when the infamous “roadhouse” Tom’s Lodge came tumbling down and some classy new urban townhouses adorned the re-gentrified site– will occur on a larger scale here. The advent of the new townhouse project there will reportedly be a collaboration between Peter Belmonte Builders, and The Eastside Group, led by Steve Ethier. Mr. Belmonte has built hundreds of excellent single family homes in Saratoga County for twenty years or more, appealing to upper-middle class buyers with evolving designs. Mr. Ethier has established himself with infill projects on the southside’s previously underdeveloped zone– contributing condos over near Pennell’s Restaurant on Jefferson Street, and a sprinkling of single-family homes in the Doten Ave.area, as well as a nice duplex on lower Warren Street. Between the two of them they bring liquidity and a successful track record to a project that had hit some snags during the economic downturn for the once-ambitious original developer. His plan would have been to include first floor retail or offices with residential units above, but that proved impractical compared to the more basic demand for more in-town housing, walkable to downtown. It will be increasing the core density of population that the local stores and restaurants and bars and retailers crave, the same as Sonny Bonacio’s Market Square project. Saratoga’s population, which was static for most of my real estate career, in terms of those “within the city limits”… is now set to increase even more than during the condo-wave. The upgrade in new housing should continue the boon of the west-side, as myself and others have detailed.
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“Pavilion Grand” Back on Plan…
Another long-stalled project has also taken a different tack, given the changing winds of the economy as a whole and Saratoga’s specific demands. Full disclosure here: this project is co-owned by one of the owners of the real estate company I work for– Ken Raymond, also a co-owner of Coldwell Banker Prime Properties. At first it was intended to be a ground-level, high-visibility Office for this company, with condos above, a five- or six-story building. But that was back when CBPP was based in the Post Office on Broadway, at Church Street, before the company took over the lease from RE/MAX Premier at 90 East Avenue, where we are now.
The site where Pavilion Grand will be built is on Lake Avenue at the corner of Pavilion Place, opposite the Saratogian newspaper’s parking lot at 20 Lake, and the well-known Irish pub dubbed The Parting Glass, at 40 Lake Ave. It will face the still-newish Hampton Inn. Just to illustrate how much Saratoga Springs is changing: ten years ago there was Mohr’s Mobil Service station at 32 Lake, across the street from a sprawling-but-ugly Chrysler Jeep Dealer which took up the whole block where the Hampton & its companion condos at High Rock Ave. now grace the space. This section was one of the most important infill projects in Saratoga’s recent history– an obvious upgrade in the true core (gut) of the City.
When Pavilion Grand breaks ground on a lot that was purchased from Stewart’s Corporation for the mad sum of $1.15 million in 2007, it is now intended for first floor retail, 2nd floor office suites, and upper floor high-end apartments and lofts. There will reportedly be on-site parking as well. At the low spot down in the dip between Broadway and Circular Street, another (relative) high-rise will be a perfect balance to the heft of the Hampton Inn across Lake Ave., and will only lend interest and more pedestrian traffic to that area where not just The Parting Glass and Scallions and Jacob & Anthony’s now exist, but Sperry’s and The Living Room and Dango’s are a short block behind there, on Caroline.
As one parking lot there on Lake, and another one on Broadway next to Lillian’s get torn up to prepare for a new structure, there is one other lot that has gone the other way, near the Track, which will have higher and more pleasant visibility next year– when Saratoga Springs will be celebrating 150 years of Horse Racing. I am talking about the corner of East Ave. and Union Ave., across from the main entrance to the Racetrack, where for years a bereft CITGO station stood. The ugly block building is now gone. The busted pavement all around it has been smoothed out and small cedars planted along the back perimeter. Stewart’s Corporation, which was denied permission to put up one of its convenience stores there, should be commended for cleaning up the site, and much improving the view near the grand old tract in the process.
There is more I could add to this list, but I think I have hit the high points, and will update this particular story on a regular basis. The point is that Saratoga Springs continues to evolve and morph in grand fashion. As a wise man told me many years ago, long before there was tangible evidence of the recent boom:
“When the rest of the world looks like it’s going to hell-in-a-handbasket, this town will be just fine, and thrive…” (Stafford Rouse, c. 1982)
–Copyright Wayne Perras 2012
Postscript (12/22/12): As of a few days before Christmas, the site of the former Ellsworth Ice Cream plant is now a rubble field, and all the prior building sections have been levelled. It will take a while to clear that debris through the winter, but in 2013 there will be a surge of activity on that site, and new housing possibilities will arise for those desirous of In-town new construction– we Realtors will be taking names..
This project is going to be a radical transition of Saratoga’s westside once again, as with the townhouses that were built on Grand Avenue on the site of the former Tom’s Lodge (a leftover roominghouse/bordello from Prohibition days) in 1999, and almost as big in scale as the Washington’s Crossing development out past Division Street Elementary School, which is nearing completion now after a long slowdown in the local housing market.
For those who prefer to rent here in Saratoga Springs, there is another new project I meant to include in this report– on Seward Street, just around the corner from Saratoga Hosipital, and adjacent to the Birch Run townhouse HOA a few blocks from Skidmore, there is new construction underway with the unfortunately generic Park Place At Saratoga, which will be “luxury 1-2-&-3 Bedroom Apartments. This was recently the site of a green grassy expanse that looked like an unused park for most of the time I have lived here. I was told that two generations ago there was a hotel on the site near where Birch Run now sits, and at one time there was a St. Anne’s School for Girls to the left where the older apartments are. More infill, more change.
And on the hotel front, there is building activity recently resumed on a well-cured foundation that sat dormant for almost 2 years, next to the Courtyard by Marriott, at 11 Excelsior Avenue, just off the Arterial between Exit 15 and downtown. At one point I heard that a famous former pro football coach was involved in the investment group building this adjunct to the current Marriott, but have not verified that rumor yet. This site is right across from the Old Red Springs, where High Rock Ave. comes , together with Excelsior Avenue and will be a visual improvement to the overgrown hillside that sat neglected for years, until the current revitalization boom.
On a sadder note, I would like to commemorate the passing (on Dec. 14th, 2012) of a legendary raconteur, restauranteur, and man-about-town: one Nate Goldsmith, aged 97. I will be writing a longer acknowledgement of what Nate contributed to this town in the past century, but wanted to note the basics here: from 1939 until 1983 he presided over the morning-noon-and-night restaurant dubbed “MOTHER GOLDSMITH’S” on Phila Street. This place was famous for years as being as close to a NYC Jewish deli as Saratoga ever had, and yet was so much more. It was a place where locals and Skidmore parents and track people and tourists from all over the world congregated and mingled and shared special occasions and famous Sunday brunches for 44 years. Nate also later opened up the larger site on South Broadway known as The Country Gentleman for many years, which afer he sold it became a seaood restaurant named The Weathervane, and now sits vacant, at the southern entrance to Saratoga Springs. When he owned that, it thrived.
Nate was also a noted harness track enthusiast, a supporter of numerous local causes, a part-time Realtor for a while in the 1990’s, and was a member of the renowned Class of 1933, in Saratoga Springs High School lore. I will miss him, and will be writing more about him soon.
That catches me up for now… more soon.
Wayne for WaynesWord2