Category Archives: Summer Construction

By Paul Post

Bonacio Construction Co. in Saratoga Springs  helped transform the Spa City with one large, multi-million-dollar project after another since its founding in 1988.

About a decade ago, the Saratoga Springs-based firm turned its attention to Glens Falls.

Now, in one of its most ambitious ventures ever, Bonacio hopes to rejuvenate South Street with a multi-phase project involving new construction and renovating existing structures such as the once-popular Sandy’s Clam Bar, Hot Shots tavern and a business incubator building behind Hot Shots at 36 Elm Street. 

Elsewhere, Bonacio is still quite busy in Saratoga Springs, currently doing foundation and structural work for a new addition behind the former Rip Van Dam Hotel, connected to the adjacent Adelphi Hotel on Broadway, which was rebuilt four years ago for $28 million. The completed project will comprise one large resort with hotel rooms, studios and apartments.

In Glens Falls, “We saw a town that was once a jewel and had won the All-American City Award, but which like a lot of upstate New York communities had struggled through some down years,” said Larry Novik, company development director. “But it was clearly making a strong comeback. We saw a beautiful downtown with a really nice layout and a lot of quality, attractive buildings. We were just excited by what we were seeing.”

The company’s first project in Glens Falls was a new six-story retail, commercial and residential building at the intersection of Hudson Avenue and School Street, near the city’s new parking garage by Glens Falls Hospital.

Plans also call for a huge new mixed-use building, slated for the current Farmer’s Market lot, with commercial space fronting South Street. The structure would wrap around Sandy’s with more than 65 upscale apartments facing Elm Street

Ground was broken in late June on the construction of a building next to the TEC-SMART facility, close to the GlobalFoundries compound in Malta. 

It will be located at the Hudson Valley Community College North extension center located in New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s Saratoga Technology and Energy Park in Malta. 

Once completed, the new two-story, 14,500-square-foot building will include state-of-the-art labs for anatomy, biology, chemistry, microbiology, and physiology, as well as classrooms, student support space, and offices to serve approximately 1,100 students.

The center is one part of the college’s $12.5 million HVCC North expansion project, which includes New York state investment of approximately $8.5 million. In combination with renovations to the college’s existing Training and Education Center for Semiconductor Manufacturing and Alternative and Renewable Technologies TEC-SMART facility, the new STEM Education Center is a key component of the college’s plans to increase access to education and workforce training opportunities through new facilities, technology, and instruction.

by Christine Graf
The first phase of construction at Cornerstone Condominiums at 55 Cornerstone Drive in Ballston Spa has been completed.
The condominiums were built and are managed by the BDC Group, a real estate development, design, construction, and management firm. The company is comprised of BDC Holdings Inc., BDC Builders Inc., and BDC Management Inc. They have offices in White Plains and Latham.
Two- and three-bedroom condominiums have been available for sale since December, company officials said. To date, 11 units have been sold and three are under contract. Once completed, the complex will include 78 units.

Saratoga Independent School announced an additional $300,000 in contributions toward its $1.5 million Soaring to New Heights capital campaign.
It brings the total funds raised to $1.1 million. The focus of this campaign is to complete the interior of a new 20,000-square-foot academic wing for its middle school expansion.
Also, Head of School Lisa Brown said a generous donor has offered a matching gift of up to $200,000 for all new gifts and pledges made by September. When fully raised, the dollar-for-dollar matching funds will successfully complete the campaign’s $1.5 million goal, and be used for scholarships, programming, equipment, and facilities.

By Jennifer Farnsworth

The building up of Malta’s town center is continuing, aided by a project being done by Windsor Development Group of Clifton Park.

The company is planning a large development that will be in the heart of the town center, featuring a eateries, retail space and apartments—all in an area that residents can walk to.

The property will be located in Clifton Park, in front of the Village Plaza shopping center, with an address of 11-15 Clifton Country Road.

Bob Miller Sr., CEO of Windsor, a real estate development and professional property management firm, said the space was an immediate draw to him because it coincides with Malta’s vision for a town center that will draw people in.

“The goal is to bring people into the center, this is definitely a project that will help to accomplish that,” said Miller.

Miller said there are two separate properties that are part of the project, and Windsor Development will be tackling one at a time. The project calls for a 7,100-square-foot building and a four-story. 60,000-square-foot building. 

By Maureen Werther

For the 450 members of Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 773, the outlook regarding the future of jobs is good. Its state-of-the-art training center in Queensbury continues to prepare journeymen for the fast-growing list of jobs in and around the region, union officials said.

Located at 37 Luzerne Road in Queensbury,  the team of expert instructors and support staff at Local 773 serves seven counties that span from Saratoga County to the Canadian border. They provide qualified pipefitters, welders, plumbers, HVAC workers and fire-suppression experts to industries ranging from commercial and light industrial to high-tech companies such as GlobalFoundries.

The $5-million facility was built in response to the rapid increase in apprenticeships the union experienced seven years ago, officials said. It was located on Bluebird Road in South Glens Falls but was no longer able to accommodate the union’s growing membership.

“Our members decided to invest in growing,” said Nelson Charron, marketing representative for Local 773 and longtime member of the union.

This rendering depicts what the facade of South Glens Falls High School will look like when renovations are complete. The district began capital projects earlier this summer.

Courtesy South Glens Falls School District

Construction of the South Glens Falls Central School District’s $57.8 million capital project began this summer and continues through 2020.

The project, which voters approved in December, includes an eight-classroom science addition at the high school, as well as six classrooms at Ballard Elementary School to accommodate the growing student population, district officials said.

Also included in the project are expanded library media centers at Ballard and Tanglewood and upgrades to the high school auditorium. Officials said the project will also address building maintenance needs such as roofing, windows, doors and flooring across all six school buildings. A combined transportation and operations/maintenance facility will be constructed on the site of the lower bus garage.

A two-story addition onto the high school will create eight science classrooms, four on each floor. Two of the four will have a flexible floor plan with movable furniture. Built-in cabinets will line the perimeter, and the corner will have a room with sun exposure for greenhouse projects.

An official for NRP Group LLC, a company planning a large apartment complex in Mechanicville, said they will look somewhat like these buildings the company has in the Pittsburgh area.

Courtesy NRP Group LLC

By Jill Nagy

Plans for a 300-unit luxury apartment development in Mechanicville have morphed into a slightly smaller project aimed at people with a range of incomes. In the process, Logistics One, the original developer, has contracted to sell the development rights to NRP Group LLC.

“Building apartments is not really our thing,” said Bill McNeary, president of Logistics One, a Saratoga Springs company in the trucking and warehousing business. McNeary first planed and proposed the project.

For NRP, a national company headquartered in Cleveland, on the other hand, apartments are very much their thing. They build some 3,000 of them a year, according to Chris Dirr, vice president for development in the company’s Buffalo office.

NRP recently completed a two-phase townhouse development in the town of Moreau–Sisson Reserve 1 and 2. Dirr said one of the company’s developments in suburban Pittsburgh, called Ascent 430, has the “look and feel” of the proposed Mechanicville development.

The project is planned for a riverfront property at the junction of Route 4 and Route 32, a 10-acre site previously occupied by a Logistics One warehouse building. The address is 230 North Main St. Dirr described it as within walking distance of Mechanicville’s downtown core.

“We want residents to use city facilities,” he said.