Month: July 2016

Construction Begins For Homewood Suites Hotel On Site Of Former Weathervane Eatery

July 7, 2016November 8, 2017

Construction of a Homewood Suits by Hilton facility has started on South Broadway.

By Jill Nagy

Construction of a Homewood Suites by Hilton facility has started on South Broadway in Saratoga Springs.

The hotel will be at the former site of the Weathervane, about one and a half miles south of downtown Saratoga Springs and across from Spa State Park.

Workers were pouring concrete for the building’s footings in June. A tentative opening in late spring 2017 is anticipated.

Gilbane Construction out of Albany is the general contractor for the project.

According to Brian Straughter, president of Turf Hotels, the company building the new hotel, the cost of the project is “always more than what you want it to be,” and will probably be more than $20 million.

Witt Construction Plans To Build English-Style Condos On The East Side Of Saratoga Springs

July 7, 2016November 8, 2017

Downtown Walk,’ depicted in this rendering, is planned by Witt Construction.

Courtesy Witt Construction

By Liz Witbeck

John Witt, who has been building homes in Saratoga Springs since 1987, is involved in a new project he calls Downtown Walk, that will provide single-family condominiums within a garden landscape.

The plan is to redevelop a property at 27 Jumel Place, near the East Side Recreation Park on the east side of Saratoga Springs.

The site contained an abandoned factory that previously housed different businesses. The area is zoned for residential use and this is a non-conforming property, said Witt.

Witt, president and owner of Witt Construction, seeks to bring the area back to life.

“I thought: What can we do to redevelop this commercial building?'” said Witt. “And I came up with this creative concept.”

Witt plans to demolish the existing building and create a residential community in its place.

Growing Staff At CLA SITE Engineering Firm Leads To Move Into New, Larger Office Space

July 7, 2016November 8, 2017

Peter Loyola, left, poses with his staff in the new offices of his company, CLA SITE Landscape Architecture, Engineering & Planning PC. The firm moved to Church Street in Saratoga Springs.

Courtesy CLA SITE

By Maureen Werther

CLA SITE Landscape Architecture, Engineering & Planning PC has moved its offices.

CLA SITE recently relocated its offices from 157 Lake Ave. to 58 Church St. in Saratoga Springs.

CLA SITE has been in business for 19 years, starting as a site landscape architectural and planning firm and adding the civil engineering component in 2004.

Peter Loyola, RLA, principal landscape architect, said that the timing was right and the company needed more space to accommodate a growing staff. The firm has grown from two employees to seven.

The team performs work throughout the state and recent projects include upgrading the infrastructure and construction of a main lodge and amphitheater at Camp Walden in Diamond Point. The company also completed a waterfront improvement project there.

The move also coincides with its recent designation as a certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) in August 2015.

“There is a huge need for MBE firms in engineering and planning,” said Loyola. “One of the main questions we were asked during the final interview phase of the certification application was, ‘Why have you waited so long to do it?'”

Commercial Printers Offset Lower Demand With Diversification And Customer Service

July 7, 2016November 8, 2017

Kevin Cronin is the owner and operator of Print Graphics in Clifton Park.

By Susan E. Campbell

Smaller printing companies can stay “in the black” in an uncertain economy by expanding their offerings. A copy shop becomes a full-service printer. An offset printer becomes a mail house for the client materials it produces.

Two such companies that survived the latest recession by diversifying are Print Graphics of Clifton Park and Alexander BlueLine of Ballston Spa.

For Kevin Cronin, owner of Print Graphics, the downturn beginning in 2008 was “like someone had cut the phone line.”

“All of a sudden your services are not needed,” he said. “The state of New York used to do a lot of printing, but not now.”

Paper is in fact “one of the few manufacturers left in the state,” Cronin said. Whereas there were five or six distributors pre-recession, there has been some consolidation and now there are two.

“Over the years, certain print offerings have disappeared because the mills have disappeared,” said Patti Kelsey, president of Alexander BlueLine Inc. When a mill merged or closed, the specific type of paper it produced would be lost.

“Clients like a certain look and feel of a paper,” said Kelsey. “I have to search for their specifications and work locally as much as possible.”

But there are new types of stock, coatings and digital equipment, and commercial printers need to “stay up with trends,” she said.

“Everything has changed, from price to how things are put together,” said Kelsey. “There are products to make paper rip-proof, waterproof, and look three-dimentional,” she said.

Business Report: Millennial-Friendly Office Planning

July 7, 2016November 8, 2017

Dorothy Rogers-Bullis, owner of drb Business Interiors in Saratoga Springs.

Courtesy drb Business Interiors

By Dorothy Rogers-Bullis

As the Millennials begin their march into the “real world” of the 9-to-5 job, many companies are realizing that this new pool of talent is not so easy to snag. While office foosball matches are fun, and a barista in the break room is nice, the 20-something crowd clearly craves more from the workplace than just a paycheck.

A recent article in the New York Times highlights this issue within the advertising industry. Once “the” place to work for young creative types, ad agencies are now struggling to attract and retain new talent. Many younger workers are being lured away by hip tech firms like Google, Facebook , and Apple, or are drawn to fast-paced start-up companies.

Consider the options

So how are more traditional industries to attract and keep younger employees?

It is a quandary that I hear more and more often from clients.

Clients will say, “I’m okay with my office space, but I know I need to renovate and update in order to attract younger professionals.”

When considering office design and furniture, it’s important to remember that younger workers want options. They are drawn to clean lines, comfortable, functional, progressive pieces that allow them to multi-task; pieces that allow them to sit, stand, roll, and that fold away to save space.

Business Report: What Does Security Mean?

July 7, 2016November 8, 2017

Richard Ruzzo, managing partner, COO, Shepherd Communication and Security.

Courtesy Shepherd Communications and Security

By Richard Ruzzo

When I hear that phrase from a new customer, I know from more than 12 years of experience in the communications and security business that it often means very different things to different people.

The term, “security,” has become a catchword encompassing a range of different issues and challenges being faced by the homeowner or business owner today.

As an expert in access control, surveillance, perimeter alarm systems, and “smart” home/office solutions, it’s my job to ask the right questions and drill down to what that potential customer really needs to make his/her home or business safe and secure.

For most people, “security” usually means cameras, which really means surveillance. Cameras are a great way to protect your business against costly things like shrinkage (employee or customer theft), low employee productivity, or unnecessary and sometimes nefarious insurance claims for trips and falls at your business or home.

Those issues usually occur inside the business or home. But, what about things that happen outside of your office building or home? For some customers, “security” may mean monitoring and protecting against what’s going on outside of the office or home. Has someone been spending too much time “aimlessly” wandering around your business perimeter or residence?

Business Report: Your Cloud, My Cloud, The Cloud

July 7, 2016November 8, 2017

Mark Shaw, president and CEO of Stored Technology Solutions Inc. (StoredTech).

Courtesy StoredTech

By Mark Shaw

The cloud is here, and it can be your own private cloud, or you may leverage the cloud others have built.

The transition has begun in earnest to fundamentally change the way IT services, and how the hardware it runs on is delivered. Microsoft and Amazon currently have two of the largest clouds for businesses. If you are a business owner and considering an upgrade- and your IT provider, IT director or CIO isn’t talking to you about cloud – you may be missing out on some real business value in your next technology cycle.

What is the cloud? What is a private cloud? What is the value? The concept can be boiled down to utility computing. Use technology and computing power like you would use electricity from the power company or internet service from a local provider. The process of buying a server, router, switch, desktops, laptops and tablets is about to change dramatically. In these cases, you own the hardware, you depreciate it, you pay a large IT bill up front to own it, and you pay an IT managed-service company or an internal set of resources to run it.

This is a capital expense. There is no way around it. The costs are variable, the support is variable, and if something gets old, you pass it down and spend more energy on older hardware. It’s a vicious cycle, and organizations are starting to ask why. Why do I have to play the card game with old desktops? Why do I have to plan for a large expense every three to five years? Why is this not easier, with more streamlined costs, and why won’t this technology just work?

What if there was a newer way? A better way. An operating expense way. There is, and it is growing in acceptance and use for small businesses by the day. This parallels the shift we saw from flip phones to today’s smartphones. You might start with either a “cloud in a box,” or use public clouds to make your business run better.

Consider this example for your next business upgrade. Your company needs new technology, you have desktops and laptops in various states of age and speed, you are paying an IT firm or internal resources to maintain this, and the monthly expenditures have you asking, “What am I getting for all of this?”

PrimeLink Continues To Grow Fiber Optic Service To Customers In Saratoga Springs

July 7, 2016November 8, 2017

PrimeLink Inc., a regional telecommunications company with offices in Champlain, Plattsburgh, and Queensbury, is continuing to grow its fiber optic network infrastructure in Saratoga Springs and expand the number of businesses it serves.

Company officials said all services are brought to the end user with a 100 percent fiber optic network. The availability of fiber optic technology will provide Saratoga with the most advanced transport medium available in digital communications and provide a more competitive environment for business customers seeking affordable high-quality communication services.

According to the company, the biggest benefit of fiber is that it can offer much faster speeds over longer distances than traditional copper-based technologies like DSL and cable. Even if typical broadband speeds become 1,000 times faster in the next 20 years, a single existing fiber-optic connection will still be able to support it.

Because fiber optics uses light instead of electricity to transmit data, the frequencies that are used are much higher and the data capacity is much greater, officials said. The fiber optic cable itself is made from glass which is not susceptible to electromagnetic interference like metal cables. This allows data to flow over great distances without degrading.

Interference and energy loss is the limiting factor for all types of communication transmissions and fiber optics handles these factors much better than other modes of transmission. In the future, more and more of our world will be connected via fiber optics as we outgrow the old copper based infrastructures.

Bove Fuel Company Is Building 40-Unit Apartment In Stillwater; Some Ready This Year

July 7, 2016November 8, 2017

By Maureen Werther

G.A. Bove Fuels, an 80-year-old company that distributes propane, heating oil, and diesel fuel across the upstate region, is building a 40-unit apartment complex in Stillwater, on nine acres of land that has been owned by the Bove family for years.

The apartment complex is called Gennaro Apartments, named after John Bove Jr.’s grandfather, Gennaro Bove, founder of Bove Fuels.

Bove Jr. said they broke ground two months ago and are hoping to have the first two buildings completed and ready for occupancy by the end of 2016. When the project is complete, there will be five buildings, with eight condo-style units per building.

Williams & Williams Designers Inc. in Glens Falls are the architects of the Gennaro apartment project and the general contractor is 10 Cardinal Lane LLC of Gansevoort. The budget for the project is $5 million and it is expected to be completed in the next two to three years.

The property is located off Coldsprings Road and west of the DeCrescente building in Mechanicville. It is approximately a 12-minute ride to GlobalFoundries, a factor that Bove thinks will be attractive to people working at GlobalFoundries and nearby businesses.

Abele Builders Plans 57,000 Square Feet Of Office Space In A New Three-Story Building

July 7, 2016November 8, 2017

By Maureen Werther

Abele Builders, a familiar name in construction and heavy equipment throughout the Capital Region for more than 25 years, is in the initial stages of approval for a proposed 57,000-square-foot office space in Clifton Park.

The site plan includes the construction of a three-floor building on five acres of vacant space on the west side of Route 9, just north of the Route 146 intersection.

“We are very motivated to move forward with this project,” said Joe Abele, who works in the commercial division and handles leasing and tenant relationships. He said Clifton Park needs a property that will attract those who work in the professional, medical, and high-tech fields, something he said is in short supply at this time in Clifton Park.

They based their decision to pursue this type of project on a number of different market analysis tools. In addition, Abele said his father and uncle, Chris and Ed Abele who run the company, “have been in this business for a long time, and they have a lot of skill and expertise. They are very aware of the types of commercial spaces companies are looking for in this area.”