{"id":16614,"date":"2015-04-10T15:51:58","date_gmt":"2015-04-10T19:51:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/saratoga-national-golf-club-hopes-city-allows-new-hotel-other-development.html"},"modified":"2015-04-10T15:51:58","modified_gmt":"2015-04-10T19:51:58","slug":"saratoga-national-golf-club-hopes-city-allows-new-hotel-other-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/saratoga-national-golf-club-hopes-city-allows-new-hotel-other-development\/","title":{"rendered":"Saratoga National Golf Club Hopes City Allows New Hotel, Other Development"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"saratoga\n<\/div>\n
Officials of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, Saratoga National Golf Course and others discuss a development project at a recent session at Gideon Putnam Resort.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

BY R.J. DELUKE<\/p>\n

A proposed major development at Saratoga
\nNational Golf Club on the east side of Saratoga
\nSprings is being touted by its supporters as a
\nmajor economic boost to the city, providing
\namenities that will continue to boost the area’s
\nrobust tourism.<\/p>\n

Supporters also say the project–which includes
\na five-star “boutique hotel,” cottages for
\nout-of-town visitors to use for extended golfing
\nexcursions, and residential units–will be in
\nkeeping with the “green belt” nature of the property
\non the east side of the Northway. However,
\nthey need special approval from the City Council
\nbefore proceeding with the green-friendly plan.<\/p>\n

The council is nearing a decision, but Mayor
\nJoanne Yepsen said at press time, there would
\nbe no decision at the April 7 meeting. Yepsen
\nsaid there will be at least one more workshop
\non the matter held before a decision is made.
\n“There’s a whole process,” she noted, regarding
\nany such change.<\/p>\n

The project has the support of the Saratoga
\nCounty Chamber of Commerce and the Saratoga
\nConvention and Tourism Bureau, among others.<\/p>\n

It was outlined on March 16, where plans were
\ndiscussed at an event hosted by the Chamber at
\nthe Gideon Putnam Resort and Spa.<\/p>\n

Opposed to the idea is a group called Sustainable
\nSaratoga, a nonprofit organization that
\npromotes sustainable practices and the protection
\nof natural resources in the city. The group
\nwas invited to the March session, but declined,
\nsaying in a statement that they viewed it as “a
\nmarketing event to launch a specific development
\nproject which is exactly the opposite of the
\ncomprehensive perspective we find appropriate
\nfor this level of planning.”<\/p>\n

Officials presenting the plan, including the
\nowner and architect, said that while it would
\nturn the site into a five-star destination golf resort–
\nsomething they say is needed in the city–
\nit will also be “green space” friendly and will
\nensure that 97 percent of the 550 acres could
\nnot be developed in the future and would remain
\ngreen open, recreational space. Mike Toohey,
\nan attorney for the project, said it actually is in
\nline with green belt principles and ensures that
\ngrowth in the area will be controlled–most of
\nit staying green for perpetuity.<\/p>\n

The golf project is also tied to the creation of
\nthe Saratoga Springs Green Belt Trail, a recreational
\ntrail for bicycles and others that would
\nmake many of the key attractions of the city accessible
\nthrough one connected trail for walkers,
\ncross-country skiers, runners and bicycle riders.<\/p>\n

Jeff Olson of Alta Planning + Design, said the
\ntrail would be a major step in linking many of
\nthe city’s major amenities and destinations and
\nis an important part of the “city in the country”
\nconcept the city has been trying to foster.<\/p>\n

Proponents of the golf project hope the city
\nwill approve the “resort overlay district” proviso
\nthat would allow the project to move forward.<\/p>\n

Toohey said under current zoning, the course
\nowners could go ahead and build residential
\nhomes on the property, with little regard to
\nwhether they might be close to the road or
\nunsightly in some people’s eyes. That is not
\nwhat the owners want, he said. That would be the urban sprawl that the owners and designer
\nwant to avoid. The proposal calls for the development
\nto take place on only 10 acres that are not
\ncurrently developed, and the buildings would be
\nsome 3,000 feet from a roadway.<\/p>\n

Toohey said that the proposed arrangement
\nis a solution to green-space concerns, that also
\nallows the golf course to improve. That improvement,
\nofficials said, will benefit the entire city,
\nincluding the downtown business district, by
\nbringing in more tourists. People on golf outings
\nwill look to take advantage of local restaurants
\nand shopping while they are in the city.<\/p>\n

Tourism Bureau President Todd Garofano
\nsaid the area lost out on a potential $7 million in
\nextra business last year because it does not have
\na five-star golf course. He said 20 large groups
\nwere searching for a four- or five-star golf resort
\ndestination and wound up going elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Tom Newkirk, Saratoga National CEO, said
\nthe project is a “once in a lifetime opportunity”
\nand would make the golf course and its amenities
\na major economic driver for the city.<\/p>\n

Michael Phinney of the Phinney Design Group
\nin Saratoga Springs, said they would like “to
\ntake what is a jewel of a landscape and use it
\nto benefit Saratoga Springs and make it truly a
\ndestination” for worldwide tourism.<\/p>\n

It’s designed in four phases. The first is a
\npractice facility and golf academy. The second is
\nexpansion of the clubhouse to include an event
\npavilion and meeting space. The third would be
\nthe 100-room , five-star hotel, with a wellness
\ncenter and spa, along with cottages for small
\ngroups. The fourth phase is 100 residential units
\nand connecting the Green Belt Trail.<\/p>\n

Toohey said the expansion would generate
\nnearly $1.5 million in new property taxes, about
\n$420,000 in hotel occupancy taxes annually.
\nEmployment numbers would be hiked by 260
\njobs. It currently employs 432 people.<\/p>\n

Proponents are hoping for open discussion of
\nthe project at the city level. Several people in the
\naudience lauded the project during a question
\nand answer session.<\/p>\n

Photo Courtesy Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Officials of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, Saratoga National Golf Course and others discuss a development project at a recent session at Gideon Putnam Resort. BY R.J. DELUKE A proposed major development at Saratoga National Golf Club on…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[57,115],"yoast_head":"\r\nSaratoga National Golf Club Hopes City Allows New Hotel, Other Development - Saratoga Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/saratoga-national-golf-club-hopes-city-allows-new-hotel-other-development\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Saratoga National Golf Club Hopes City Allows New Hotel, Other Development - Saratoga Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Officials of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, Saratoga National Golf Course and others discuss a development project at a recent session at Gideon Putnam Resort. BY R.J. DELUKE A proposed major development at Saratoga National Golf Club on...\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/saratoga-national-golf-club-hopes-city-allows-new-hotel-other-development\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Saratoga Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-04-10T19:51:58+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2015\/04\/saratoga20national20forum20c.jpg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Saratoga Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Saratoga Business Journal\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/saratoga-national-golf-club-hopes-city-allows-new-hotel-other-development\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/saratoga-national-golf-club-hopes-city-allows-new-hotel-other-development\/\",\"name\":\"Saratoga National Golf Club Hopes City Allows New Hotel, Other Development - Saratoga Business Journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-04-10T19:51:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-04-10T19:51:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/ddf5fd6df8c43505ff3a5fb93e64871d\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/saratoga-national-golf-club-hopes-city-allows-new-hotel-other-development\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/saratoga-national-golf-club-hopes-city-allows-new-hotel-other-development\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/saratoga-national-golf-club-hopes-city-allows-new-hotel-other-development\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Saratoga National Golf Club Hopes City Allows New Hotel, Other Development\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/\",\"name\":\"Saratoga Business Journal\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/ddf5fd6df8c43505ff3a5fb93e64871d\",\"name\":\"Saratoga Business Journal\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2c854d5e50c70dc686bfc980524ca4f5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2c854d5e50c70dc686bfc980524ca4f5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Saratoga Business Journal\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/author\/saratogabusinessjournal\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Saratoga National Golf Club Hopes City Allows New Hotel, Other Development - Saratoga Business Journal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/saratoga-national-golf-club-hopes-city-allows-new-hotel-other-development\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Saratoga National Golf Club Hopes City Allows New Hotel, Other Development - Saratoga Business Journal","og_description":"Officials of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, Saratoga National Golf Course and others discuss a development project at a recent session at Gideon Putnam Resort. BY R.J. DELUKE A proposed major development at Saratoga National Golf Club on...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/saratoga-national-golf-club-hopes-city-allows-new-hotel-other-development\/","og_site_name":"Saratoga Business Journal","article_published_time":"2015-04-10T19:51:58+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2015\/04\/saratoga20national20forum20c.jpg"}],"author":"Saratoga Business Journal","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Saratoga Business Journal","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/saratoga-national-golf-club-hopes-city-allows-new-hotel-other-development\/","url":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/saratoga-national-golf-club-hopes-city-allows-new-hotel-other-development\/","name":"Saratoga National Golf Club Hopes City Allows New Hotel, Other Development - Saratoga Business Journal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-04-10T19:51:58+00:00","dateModified":"2015-04-10T19:51:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/ddf5fd6df8c43505ff3a5fb93e64871d"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/saratoga-national-golf-club-hopes-city-allows-new-hotel-other-development\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/saratoga-national-golf-club-hopes-city-allows-new-hotel-other-development\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/saratoga-national-golf-club-hopes-city-allows-new-hotel-other-development\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Saratoga National Golf Club Hopes City Allows New Hotel, Other Development"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/","name":"Saratoga Business Journal","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/ddf5fd6df8c43505ff3a5fb93e64871d","name":"Saratoga Business Journal","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2c854d5e50c70dc686bfc980524ca4f5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2c854d5e50c70dc686bfc980524ca4f5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Saratoga Business Journal"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/author\/saratogabusinessjournal\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16614"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/121"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16614\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}