This street is busy!

Quick: What street in Saratoga Springs had the most construction per mile in the past year?  Broadway?  Railroad Place?  Lake Avenue?  High Rock?

Nope, nope, nope, and nope.  If you guessed any of those, or any other street that wasn't Cottage Street, you were wrong.

This  street, running for just over 1/10 of a mile between White Street and Park Place, has seen a flurry of activity (considering it's very limited length) in the past year. 

We'll start with The Condominiums at 11 Cottage Street, an apartment to condo conversion project that was started last year and is now being marketed by Roohan Realty.  This relatively small project has received limited attention and publicity, at least compared to the much larger Park Place Condominium project, as well as the 38 High Rock Condominiums , The Lofts at 54 Phila and the Lofts at 18 Division Street.  The Cottage Street project involves seven one and two bedroom condos, some with garage space available, ranging in price from $275,000 to $310,000.  I stopped in to one of their open houses and the places seem nice, but perhaps a bit generic and lacking that ol' Saratoga charm. 

The prices are certainly affordable, at least by Saratoga standards, and the location - very close to the track, Congress Park, and the planned East side recreation center - is almost perfect.  In the Business Review article from last August that I linked above, the owner, Steve McIntyre, founder of Vista Home Funding, Inc. in Saratoga Springs, was quoted as saying "at least 10 potential buyers already have been identified" and that depending on how well the project sells, he may look at other apartment to condo projects in the future.  Well, despite the upbeat talk about potential buyers, when I stopped by the open house a few weeks ago all seven units were still available.  I can only conclude that although this project would seem to target an underserved niche here in the Spa City (that niche being new condos that go for less than half a million dollars), it appears that sales are nonexistent simply because of an awful economy.  I like the fact that the owners tried something different and again, relatively affordable, so I wish them luck and hope the sales start picking up.  

Moving across the street, a family is building their future homestead at the corner of Cottage and Murphy Lane.  The fact that a family - and not a developer - is building a residential building in the central part of the city is a somewhat unexpected and certainly refreshing change of pace.

The first two pictures below are obviously the early part of the construction, and the next two are more recent - although even the more recent ones are a few weeks old so there has been more construction since then.  It's a large and nice looking house, and it looks like the architecture will fit in nice in the neighborhood. 

 

 

 

 

So on your next walk, bike ride, or car trip, take a short detour down Cottage Street and check out all the activity.  It's an uplifting tour to see all that activity on such a short thoroughfare and a nice change of pace from the what are comparably mega projects in other parts of the city.

 

Comments

[Ellen]

Great post. I'll have to mosey over there and check it out.

Check out my blog for an interesting photo essay on 54 Phila.

[Scott]

In regards to the condos on Cottage Street; I looked at them last weekend and 2 of the units are sold. The place looked great....I cannot find a cheaper unit in in downtown saratoga with the amenities (i.e garage, patio, central air, 3 levels (basement, granite, etc...

[Dan]

Thanks Ellen and I did check out your post - you are correct on that - what's with the rising prices approaching a million dollars. In this economy?

Scott: I read your comment, and I was suspicious because it just seemed a little too promotional for an objective commenter. I Googled your name and found out that you, or at least someone with your exact same name, is a mortgage consultant with Vista Home Funding, owned by the same person who is building these condos.

I don't think it's a stretch to assume this is the same Scott Callender working at Vista. Assuming I am right, it appears that you were being dishonest on here by posing as an objective customer, when in reality you are associated with the developer. That is not the way for businesses to handle new media, and with the mess the economy is in, caused in part by scandalous actions by the mortgage industry, we need integrity in the industry.

Here is an example of a post that would have done a lot more good:

Hi Dan:
This is Scott Callender, mortgage consultant for Vista Home Funding, which you linked on your blog entry. We are very familiar with the Cottage Street project and apparently at least a couple of customers agree with you that the location is perfect, because two of the units just recently sold. If you consider the fact that these units include a garage, central air, 3 levels including a basement, granite etc., all for hundreds of thousands less than most downtown condos, I think you would have to agree these are the best condos for the price in all of Saratoga. If any customers wish to have a private viewing....

You get my point. I have no problem with a commenter plugging their project on here, I just don't like the dishonesty.