430 Broadway Hits Market for 14.9 Million
(Courtesy of the Hall of History Foundation and the Saratoga Room in the Saratoga Springs Public Library)
An anchor of the downtown Saratoga streetscape, 430-436 Broadway, is for sale for $14.9 million dollars. The three-story mixed-use building stands on the corner of Broadway and Caroline Street.
Built in the 1860s, the building has had just two owners over its lifespan, first by the Putnam family. Then in 1923, the grandfather of the current managing partner, Bill Walbridge, purchased the building, beginning 103 years of family ownership.
Currently the building holds five businesses— Lifestyles, Esperanto, the Merc, the Vault, and Tin and Lint. The former is the longest continuously operated bar in the city of Saratoga – since the 1970s.
The bustling downtown scene of today is in part, due to the civic work of Bill’s father.
In the 1970s, downtown faced a vacancy rate approaching 50 percent. Community leaders responded by investing in streetscape improvements and creating a grant program that encouraged owners to reinvest in and preserve their buildings.
Those efforts helped spark the revitalization that transformed Saratoga Springs from a primarily seasonal destination into the vibrant, year-round city it is today.
Now with unprecedented investment into the Spa City’s downtown district, The Walbridges have decided it is time to list the property for sale.
According to Roohan Realty, brokers of the building, the sale represents more than a change in ownership— it is an opportunity to pass a piece of Saratoga’s history to the next generation of community leaders who will help shape the future of downtown, just as generations before them did.