Displaying items by tag: Broadway

Thursday, 30 April 2020 13:09

New Office Building Proposed

SARATOGA SPRINGS — A new six-story office building may soon be coming to Broadway. 

This week, an application anticipated to be reviewed by the Saratoga Springs Planning Board calls for the site plan review of a proposed project at 269 Broadway which will see the construction of a six-story commercial and retail building for mixed-use, as well as an underground parking garage. 

The building is slotted to stand on the west side of Broadway, between Broadway and Hamilton Street, just north of Saratoga Central Catholic High School.   

 

The applicants – 269 Broadway LLC – are located at 85 Railroad Place, headquarters of Prime Group Holdings, which owns and manages over $2 billion of self-storage properties across the U.S. According to the Albany Business Review, the company currently employs 70 people downtown and the company’s founder and chief executive Bob Moser expects that number to expand by 50 to 100% with the development of a new
six-story corporate headquarters on Broadway. 

The first floor of the building will consist of retail, with the second through sixth floors housing offices. A restaurant will be added to the second floor. At its tallest, the structure will rise to 70 feet in height. 

There are currently 24 existing parking spaces on the otherwise vacant lot site where the building will be constructed. The application seeks to add an additional 47, creating a total of 71 spaces. Those spaces will be a part of a two-level underground parking garage accessible via Hamilton Street.

Published in News
Thursday, 29 August 2019 14:54

Mountainman

Joseph Vidarte, Manager of Mountainman Outdoor Supply Company on Broadway, said that John Nemjo started the company 25 years ago in Inlet, New York. Nemjo came to Saratoga 11 years ago and started the current Broadway location, albeit without the later expansions.

Vidarte said that the company started as mostly a retail location for the brand Life is Good, but over time it expanded to be a general outdoors store, including various brands and items ranging from clothing to utensils to equipment like paddles and chairs.

“We specialize in everything from paddle sports to climbing to backpacking, hiking, snowshoeing and just outdoor apparel and life stuff,” Vidarte said.

Additionally, the store has gone through two major expansions during its lifetime on Broadway. The first was gaining the back area, which gave enough room to add the likes of the store’s library and sale room, along with more floor space for goods. The second added an entire second entrance to the store, with the floor space being used for a shoe section.

“The first expansion happened in 2013, and the last expansion was finished just a year and a half ago,” Vidarte said. “So we’ve grown about 6,000 square feet in seven years.”

The store also has a sister location, Saratoga Springs Paddle Sports, which, as the name would suggest, focuses much more heavily on paddle sports, while the main location caters to general outdoors activities. Vidarte said that it is located at Fish Creek Marina, right beside Harvest and Hearth and the Kayak Shack.

Currently, the store is in the middle of race season, which Vidarte said was their second busiest time of year, after the holidays, lasting from approximately November until Christmas.

“As far as track goes, our sales are up from last year,” he said. “I would say the overall business, the overall economy is up from last year, with track season now that it’s two weeks longer.”

He continued, “but it’s not just track that brings in people to Saratoga. There’s a lot of events going on, whether it’s at Skidmore, or it’s at Saratoga State Park or SPAC for music, the ballet, the orchestra and just Broadway in general, Broadway for the shopping and restaurants, whether it’s on Broadway or a little off Broadway, draws a whole crowd up to Saratoga.”

He concluded, “there’s not many places like Saratoga Springs in the country, especially that are this close to a large city and that provide different opportunities for everyone.”

For the near future, he said that they would be starting up their Mountainman Adventure film series. He said “it’s a film series that we show in store once a month for three months, so it’s February, March and April.”

For each of the films, he said that they invite a non-profit company, a local brewery and representatives for the brand that it featured in the film. Each film showcases an aspect of the industry, and the night’s proceeds to go the non-profit. The brewery is for fun, so that people can drink if they want, and to raise awareness about local businesses.

Vidarte said that the first film they ever made was about skiing, and aired with an old projector and screen they had bought from a Golf Simulator, with a store employee who happened to also be a disc jockey on the technical controls.

Vidarte said “the problem was that it was all white background, and the projector that we were using was so old that it wasn’t showing well for about 80 people that attended that night.”

Now, the events have ramped up the quality, with the company High Peak Sound handling the audio and visuals, among other improvements.

Along with the movies airing at the start of next year, Vidarte said that the store has various large sale days coming up, such as Rendezvous Day from Sept. 27 to Sept. 29 for the Paddle Sports location, Skidmore Parents’ Day in October, Black Friday and the Victorian Street Walk.

For more information, contact Mountainman Outdoor Supply Company, at 518-584- 3500, or visit its website at www. mountainmanoutdoors.com.

 

Published in Business
Thursday, 08 August 2019 15:29

A Look at Impressions

Impressions of Saratoga on Broadway adheres to the thought process of “the everything Saratoga store,” according to co-owner Maddy Zanetti and the sign outside the front door.

“Saratoga is a lifestyle that people who live here and visit really embrace,” Zanetti said. “So we have things that celebrate Saratoga’s history with ‘health, history, horses.’”

In addition to horse-based gifts, Impressions has general gifts as well. As Zanetti put it, they have things “for people who are visiting and people who live here year round and may be looking for a birthday gift, anniversary gift or something for their house or friends.”

One aspect of Impressions that sets it apart from many of the other stores on Broadway is the complete acceptance of dogs in and around the store.

“We have a sign in our window that says ‘dogs and their humans are welcome,’” She said. “We have a dog wall, we take their pictures when they come in and we have treats and water for them.”

Both Zanetti and Impressions’s other co-owner, Marianne Barker, also bring their own dogs, Smitty, Cookie, Pupa and Smalls, collectively known as the Impressions Pups, into the store.

Zanetti said that the current stance of allowing dogs into the store has always been in place, but for the Pups, it started with “Smitty was coming in every day, and then Cookie and Pupa started coming in every day and finally Smalls just started coming every day about a year and a half ago. We just keep adding to the collection.”

In addition to the dogs, Zanetti said “we also have a mini horse who comes to the store for special events called Upset.”

She continued by saying that Upset will be at the store this coming Friday, Aug. 9, and that “he does sometimes come into the store, but most of the time he’s outside.”

In addition to the main store, in June 2018 Zanetti and Barker opened up another store called Dark Horse Mercantile next to Coffee Traders, also on Broadway.

Zanetti said “we were walking by the space, we saw that it was available, and we said ‘we should open a store there,’ and we did. And we did it in about three weeks.”

She thanked both the store’s employees and her and Barker’s families for helping with starting up the new store, saying that both of their families had woodworkers and other such handypeople to assist.

She said that the main store currently has about 14 employees, many in high school and college, and four employees that stay for the full year, with the increase being due to more traffic from the racing season.

“This week is one of the busiest weeks, with the Fasig- Tipton Sales,” Zanetti said. “We are always very busy the entire sales week, and of course August and July are the busiest times of the year for us, with all of the people in town for racing.”

She added that the increased traffic has also changed their hours of operation, and that now “we’re open to 10 or 11 every night.”

She also said that the change in racing schedule and resultant extra Dark Day on Mondays has led to a change in traffic flow into the store, but not necessarily a change in overall customers.

“We’re seeing foot traffic at a time when there used to be less, and then we’re also seeing less foot traffic on the Mondays and Tuesdays than we used to have,” she said. “So it’s just an adjustment of when we’re busier. We’re still busy, it’s just a matter of at what times and days. Of course Saturday and Sunday are the busiest days.”

For future plans, Zanetti said that “we try to plan, but also we just do. We’re already receiving our Christmas things and getting ready for the holiday season and our trade show season, which starts in September, we go to shows and buy for next year. And we’re always trying to come up with new fun things that make us unique and bring people back to the store.”

In the search for new inventory, she said that “we have a little bit of everything and we try to find products that are unique. As many as we can, we try to find handmade or made in America, and then we do a lot of the pieces and garments ourselves. We design them if we’re in love with the product and have them custom made for us.”

For more information, visit Impressions at 368 Broadway, or the store’s website at www. impressionssaratoga.com.

Published in Business
Friday, 03 May 2019 10:21

Broadway Build Up

SARATOGA SPRINGS — A new five-story building targeting a prominent Broadway location signifies the most current new mixed-use development anticipated to be built in the city. The .73-acre site on the west side of Broadway is bordered by The Stadium Café to the north and Druthers to the south. 

The multi-story building at 385 Broadway will feature approximately 10,000 square feet of retail/commercial space on the first floor, and 69 multi-family residential units on the upper levels. The proposed project moved through the city’s Land Use Boards in late 2018. 

Demolition of the existing 22,000-square-foot building is expected to begin in the next few weeks, with construction slated to begin as soon as demolition is completed, according to the Albany Business Review. The project is being developed under the name Broadway 385 LLC, a partnership that includes Tom Newkirk, owner of Saratoga National Golf Club, and Peter Rosecrans Jr. of Burns Management. Rosecrans did not return a phone message seeking comment for this article. 

An earlier proposal presented to the city in July 2018 called for 72 apartments - 27 of which were designated as “micro apartments. Revised plans depict an overall decrease of the number of residential units to 69 - with micro-units measuring 500 to 650 square feet. The proposal also notes the providing of 49 parking spaces.

Two of the building’s current tenants – National, and Frivolous are expected to take up residence on the ground floor of the new building, which will have the potential to add a third tenant. 

The building at 385 Broadway was sold at a bank foreclosure auction to Newkirk for $2 million, according to a Daily Gazette article in December 2011. 

Published in News

ROCK CITY FALLS – Six miles from Broadway stands a grand 19th-century estate where a series of Broadway legends and Tony Award notables will soon be showcased in an intimate performance space. It is, says Mansion Inn co-owner Jeffrey Wodicka, one of the area’s best kept secrets.

“We thought it would be fun to bring some top Broadway New York City performers up to the area and have them in a small, intimate setting. So, we decided to put together a supper - where a three-course dinner is served – and have major talent for a 90-minute performance in an intimate room that seats 120 people,” he says.   

Wodicka and partner Neil Castro took over the historic Mansion Inn on Route 29 in 2001. Originally built in 1866 as a 23-room Venetian, villa-style estate and recognized by The National Register of Historic Places, the mansion was once the grand home of 19th Century industrialist George West - a renaissance man of sorts who established an art and archaeological museum in Round Lake, served as a member of the New York State Assembly and the House of Representatives, and owned as many as 10 paper mills, which earned him the nickname the “paper bag king.”

The inn has remained virtually unchanged during the past 150 years and hosts about 45 wedding celebrations annually as well as retreats and – for the past few years - a supper club theater.

The 801 Supper Club season opens May 24 with an appearance by Bobby Conte Thornton, who made his Broadway debut as Calogero, the leading role in Robert DeNiro's musical version of "A Bronx Tale.” Thorntown’s show, “Blame It On My Youth,” offers songs written by artists ranging from Irving Berlin to Sting.

TV actor Ryan Raftery performs “The Rise and Fall (and Rise) of Martha Stewart” on June 21. Andrea McArdle – who rocketed to stardom as Broadway’s original “Annie” – stages a brand-new show that celebrates The Great American Songbook, Broadway and contemporary music on July 26; Broadway Legend Lillias White, who secured a Tony Award for Cy Coleman and Ira Gasman’s “The Life,“ starred in 2010’s “Fela!,” and starred in "Dream Girls" on Broadway performs at The 801 Supper Club Aug. 23. Singer-songwriters and Carnegie Hall headliners Will and Anthony Nunziata stage their show Sept. 20, and Josh Young - nominated for a Tony Award for his performance as Judas in “Jesus Christ Superstar” presents an evening of showstoppers comprised of Andrew Lloyd Webber favorites on Oct. 18. The concert includes songs from “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Evita,” and “Phantom of the Opera.”

“These are top, top people – and they love coming here, because they’ll come up in jeans and a piano player for a very intimate performance you wouldn’t normally see,” says Wodicka, who grew up on Long Island and relocated to Saratoga after the completion of his college years.   

“A property like the Mansion Inn needs to be used, there are not many like it. In downtown Saratoga Springs there are quite a number of older homes and properties, but they’re not on any land – they’re on postage-stamp size lots and don’t have a lot of space. Here, we can accommodate a lot of people. We’re on acres with a pond and a carriage house and a barn, so we can do all kinds of things,” he says.

The atmosphere during the supper theater, he says, is something special. “It’s intimate. You sit around a table with people you’re probably meeting for the first time, you have the dinner conversation back-and-forth, then the show comes on and you know, it’s electric. There is no bad seat. You really get the effect.”  

Tickets are $75 and include a three-course meal and a 90-minute show. For more information about the 801 Supper Club at the Mansion of Saratoga, go to https://www.themansionsaratoga.com/

Published in Entertainment
Thursday, 08 March 2018 13:20

Over 25 Basketball League Returning to SRYMCA

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Saratoga Regional YMCA is restarting their Over 25 Basketball League this April through June. This league will follow up the youth league and Over 50 League, that end their seasons in late March. Similar to the Over 50 League, this league will not have any coaches, instead the captains of each team will act as a coach. Games will take place every Wednesday night, with two games at 7 p.m. and two games at 8 p.m. Games will be played four on four at half-court, so two can take place at a time.

As far as fees go, Mike Laudicina, program coordinator, says that “it all depends on what team the player is on, because the fee is by teams. Some teams have 10 players, so it’s less expensive.”

About 50 percent of the players who have signed up so far played in the youth league when they were kids and were too young to play in the Over 50 League, now they have a place to play organized basketball again.

“It’s a program that we used to have years ago when we were at the Broadway facility and when we moved here it was a little hard to run it because at Broadway we were in a closed gym and here, you know the players have to watch their language and different things because children walk around on the track. So when we first moved here, we thought it was better to drop the program, but we had so many people asking about it and we had hoped to get six teams and we have eight teams so far, so it’s something that is needed and wanted,” Laudicina explained.

This program will run every spring, and if successful, may also run in the fall, depending on gym availability.

“I don’t need to talk much about it because people are signing up already! I don’t even have sign-ups out, but the gentlemen involved have been going around and getting teams, but we do still have spots available,” Laudicina said.

While the rosters are filling quickly, the league needs sponsors for the teams. If interested in playing or being a sponsor, contact Mike Laudicina at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call at 518-583-9622, ext. 145.

Published in Sports

Much of my work is helping newly divorced individuals navigate their way through the end of a marriage and creating a new vision for a healthy relationship and life in general. There are certain patterns I have come to identify that all of us go through at the end of a significant relationship.

Published in News

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