How to resolve AdBlock issue? SARATOGA SPRINGS - The city is reviewing a plan that would construct two 96-unit “work force” apartment buildings near Saratoga Casino Hotel.
Liberty Affordable Housing Inc. – a not-for-profit developer headquartered in Rome, N.Y., is seeking amendments to the city’s Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Ordinance that would develop the buildings on a 30.27-acre parcel, which are currently vacant and in an area near the Saratoga Casino soccer fields.
The land is owned by B.M.H.D. Inc. of Ballston Spa, and Saratoga Harness Racing Inc. with frontage along Jefferson Street and along Crescent Avenue.
The two apartment buildings will be accessible via Bunny Lake Drive, a private road. The two four-story buildings each will house 96 apartments and consist of two and three-bedroom units containing mixed income households targeting 50, 60 and 90 percent AMI.
AMI, or the Area Median Income for a family of four in Saratoga County is about $84,000, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Based on this structure, the rent would equate to annual earnings of approximately $42,000, $50,400, and $75,600, respectively, for a family of four.
Plans call for the project to take place in two phases built in two phases. one for each building - and each phase also calls for the development of 147 parking spaces, of which 6 will be handicap accessible.
Earlier this month, Skip Carlson, vice president of external affairs at Saratoga Casino, submitted a letter to the city explaining that approximately 550 of the Saratoga Casino Hotel’s 630 employees would qualify to live in the planned workforce housing project.
“The majority of these employees can’t afford to live in Saratoga Springs as 74.1 percent live outside the 12866 zip code,” Carlson wrote. Saratoga Casino Hotel employs 630 workers. Of those approximately half earn less than $30,250 annually, one-fourth earn between $30,250- $36,300, and one-fourth earn $36,300 - $54,450 annually, according to documents submitted to the city.
Liberty Affordable Housing Inc. will also seek negotiating a PILOT agreement up to a maximum term of 40 years. The hope is to secure all municipal approvals by Oct. 15.
