Courtesy DCG Development
By R.J. DeLuke
“It looks like a busy year,” said Mike Munter, vice president of Munter Enterprises in Middle Grove.
The sentiment appears common in the construction industry as it rolls into 2017. Across the county there re many projects in process and many others that will come to light in ensuing months.
“Last year was busy. We had a lot of good work,” Munter noted. Regarding 2017, “we’re seeing that people are motivated now to invest in their people and their business … There’s a lot of positive energy out there” that bodes for a good year for the construction industry.
Munter Enterprises broke ground on a 3,000-square-foot expansion at Northway Emergency Animal Clinic off Northway Exit 17 in Moreau. The expansion will add more space for surgery, examination rooms and some administrative space.
The company has started to pour concrete Stone Bridge Iron & Steel Inc. 30,000-square-foot expansion of its production facility in Northumberland.
Munter Enterprises will also build the new SKS Bottle & Packaging Inc. building in the WJ Grande Industrial Park in Saratoga Springs. The packaging company is investing nearly $16 million in a new 136,000-square-foot building.
Munter said it is now in the design and approval phase. Tentatively, he expects construction to start in the fall.
He praised the support of the Saratoga County Economic Development Corp. and the Saratoga County IDA for “brining companies here and helping them grow.”
The company is also involved in the construction of Siena College’s Marcelle Athletic Complex $13.5 million project. Munter did some of the steel work on about 7,000 square feet of the project.
Rocksport Indoor Climbing Gym and Outdoor Guide Service will relocate this fall to a new rock climbing and multi-purpose facility at 54 Carey Road, Queensbury that Munter Enterprises is doing.
Owned and operated by Tom Rosecrans and his wife, Susan Beadle, Rocksport’s new facility at 54 Carey Road, Queensbury, will be approximately 8,400 square feet and, in addition to rock and boulder climbing, it will offer yoga and pilates. It includes a 50-foot high climbing wall inside.
Munter said the Galway Volunteer Fire Department is expected to vacate its cramped quarters on Route 147 and take up residence around the corner in a new $2.1 million station soon that Munter built.
The 12,000-square foot facility has four spacious drive-through bays, a locker area and separate rooms for radio dispatch, records, fitness and training. Among its features is a large kitchen and meeting area suitable for hosting public events.
Among the construction projects being planned in the city is the new parking garage for the Saratoga Springs City Center. The city chose in 2016 a parking garage plan over two proposals to have mult-use projects that would have included housing and retail.
The project is still in the planning stages, but the City Center, which is leasing the High Rock parking area in order to build and operate the garage, has its funding in place, said Mark Baker, the former president of the City Center who is still overseeing the project.
Envision Arvhitects in Albany is designing the garage and Bette & Cring construction in Albany has been working closely with center officials throughout the project development.
Baker anticipates breaking ground in the fall, since he wants to be respectful of the summer racing season and not be disruptive to it.
The four-and-a-half story grage will have 483 parking spaces.
Frank H. Alessandrini, president of F.H. Alexander Inc. contractors and construction management, said his company is involved in doing renovation projects for Liberty Enterprises in Amsterdam, the ARC organization fore Montgomery County. It involves renovating some group homes for people with disabilities.
The company is also doing work for Coarc, the ARC organization in Columbia County. Alessandrini said it is a “good sized project” of some 13,000 square feet, converting existing space into a contract manufacturing facility where Coarc clients work on making products that they can put up for sale. That project should be completed this year.
At Hannoush Plaza, a small strip mall off Route 9, north of Route 146, F.H. Alexander is finishing up offices that will be used as headquarters for Hunt Real Estate, Alessandrini said. It is the first tenant for that 3,000-square-foot space, which is being fitted for the company.
The company is doing work for Four Winds, 30 Crescent Ave., Saratoga Springs, a group that provides inpatient and outpatient mental health treatment services for children, adolescents and adults. The work involves accessibility upgrades for the buildings.
A new project this spring will be construction of a new Agway store on Route 40, between Troy and Schaghticoke. The building will be about 6,000 square feet.
Alessandrini said the project was originally schedule to be done in 2016, but was deferred until this year.
He said for the construction industry in general, “things are looking OK this year.” He is still bidding on jobs, he noted, and thus far in 2017, his company has had “more of a collection of mid-size and smaller projects this spring than in the past.”
Rick Eaglestone of DCG Development Inc. said the company, which provides professional commercial real estate leasing in the area as well as being involved in development, is continuing its redevelopment of town Plaza at 800 Route 146 in Clifton Park.
He said 25,000 square feet off office space on the first floor is being converted to retail and commercial space.
Town Plaza, which was all commercial office space prior to the redevelopment, has first floor retail locations between 1,150 and 5,600 square feet and second floor office suites between 100 and 2,000 square feet. The complex has 400 parking spaces, high-speed internet access and elevator service.
Eaglestone said some tenants are operating already, some are awaiting construction of space and others are under negotiation for space. Operating are a juice bar, hair salon and personal trainer. In the spring a sushi restaurant and pizzeria are expected to open.
In Clifton Park Center, Carpet One is looking to expand and DCG will construct additional space for the company. DCG also negotiating with possible new tenants, hje noted.
Eaglestone said there will be some development by DCG in Malta near Northway Exit 12. It will involve new construction, but he could not release details at this time.
Among projects Bonacio Construction is involved in is completion of the apartment units on Phila Street, next door to Cafe Lena, the renovation of which Bonacio also handled. The apartment space, with an address of 55 Phila St., will have eight residential units.
Other projects in the works include the Union Avenue condominiums on the site of the former Skidmore dormitory.
In Glens Falls, the seven-story mixed-use building at 14 Hudson Ave. is proceeding. The highly anticipated project will provide new apartment, retail, and office space.
Bonacio Construction and Bow Tie Cinemas—the latter of which operates theaters in Schenectady and Saratoga Springs—are working together to restore the former American Theater on River Street in Troy and reopen it as a first-run theater. The project was chosen to receive $778,205 through the state’s Restore New York Communities Initiative. That money would help fund a planned $3 million project. Few details have been released as yet.