{"id":18415,"date":"2015-12-02T23:54:21","date_gmt":"2015-12-03T04:54:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/12\/city-officials-to-review-parking-concerns-traffic-before-decision-on-high-rock-site-1.html"},"modified":"2017-11-08T13:46:44","modified_gmt":"2017-11-08T18:46:44","slug":"city-officials-to-review-parking-concerns-traffic-before-decision-on-high-rock-site-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/12\/city-officials-to-review-parking-concerns-traffic-before-decision-on-high-rock-site-1\/","title":{"rendered":"City Officials To Review Parking Concerns, Traffic, Before Decision On High Rock Site"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n

\"highrock\n<\/div>\n

\n

This rendering shows part of Highrock Village, proposed by Paramount Realty Group as a mutli-use complex on the city-owned parking lot between Maple Avenue and High Rock.\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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

Saratoga Springs Mayor Joanne Yepsen said a
\ntechnical review team is going over the two proposals
\nfor a multi-use project on the city-owned land
\nalong High Rock, Maple and Lake avenues–currently
\na parking lot–and she hopes to hear from
\nthat group by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

They are both expansive, multimillion dollar
\nprojects that would–if eventually approved by
\nthe city–result in a combination of shops, apartments
\nand parking spaces. Representatives of two
\ndevelopment groups gave presentations on Nov.
\n10 at a special City Council meeting. The projects
\ndiffer, but both specify parking spaces for Saratoga
\nCity Center, the general public and residents who
\nwould occupy the proposed housing.<\/p>\n

Yepsen said Dec. 1 that the technical review
\nteam was appointed by the council.<\/p>\n

At the end of the November meeting, the city
\ncouncil compiled a list of questions they want answered
\nby both development groups. The technical review
\nteam did the same, and all have been sent
\noff and are awaiting comment. The mayor said the
\nsame questions went to both groups.<\/p>\n


\nParking is deemed by the city as the key segment
\nof any project that comes to fruition on the
\nproperty, especially a large potion for City Center.<\/p>\n

Paramount Realty Group LLC in Syracuse
\npresented its $77 million proposal. Hyman Hemispheric
\nLLC of Voorheesville also outlined its ideas,
\nwithout giving a cost estimate. Though Jeff Hyman
\nof Hyman Hemispheric previously stated his plan
\nis in the area of $82 million.<\/p>\n

Yepsen said a parking task force will look at
\noverall needs of the downtown area. The flow of
\ntraffic and how it would be affected by a major
\ndowntown residential-business complex will also
\nbe examined.<\/p>\n

At the Nov. 10 session, Yepsen said she likes the
\nidea of a mixed-use project, but wants to ensure
\nit allows a flow of activity between High Rock
\nbusinesses, the Farmer’s Market and the rest of
\ndowntown, “so it feels like one city and one town;
\nnot cutting off life, but including it.”<\/p>\n

Representatives of both projects said that connectivity
\nwith Broadway and downtown is one of
\nthe prominent goals.<\/p>\n

One commissioner, Chris Mathiesen, cautioned
\nthe city may want to proceed with building just
\na parking garage on the lot–a project whose
\ncontroversy resulted in the city seeking different
\nproposals–and possibly saving space for expansion
\nof City Hall.<\/p>\n

But Commissioner John P. Franck said using the
\nmost valuable building lot in the city for a municipal
\nbuilding “would be just horrible.”<\/p>\n

“This is about stewardship of assets,” he said.
\n“I could not think of a worse investment that to
\nbuild a municipal building on the most expensive
\nlot in the city. We have other properties we could
\npotentially purchase” for future expansion.<\/p>\n

Commissioner Michele Madigan was concerned
\nthe proposals may be too big for that section of the
\ncity. Commissioner Skip Scirocco said both were
\ngood proposals and he favors a mixed-use project
\nof some kind.<\/p>\n

All the commissioners said there was a lot of information
\nto digest before anything moves forward.<\/p>\n

One point of concern for all was the proximity
\nof City Center parking spaces to the actual center
\nand how access to and from those spaces could
\nbe improved beyond what developers proposed.<\/p>\n

Both development teams had stated future dialog
\nwith the city could result in beneficial changes.<\/p>\n

Richard deVito, a partner with Paramount
\nRealty Group LLC in Syracuse, and Susan McCann
\nof Community Builders presented the $77 million
\nproposal that calls for 259 spaces for the center, 30
\nfor city use, 140 for residents and 178 for the public.<\/p>\n

The housing would be a combination of senior
\nhousing (64 units), workforce housing for young
\nprofessionals (42), condos (36) and market-rate
\napartments (24), retails would be a mix of shops
\nand restaurants. There would be access to Maple
\nAve. and an attractive walkway down the center
\nfrom High Rock to Lake Avenue.<\/p>\n

From parking revenue and the land agreement,
\ndeVito said over 30 years, revenue to the city would
\nbe about $3 million.<\/p>\n

It would be built in phases, deVito said, but if
\nthe city selects his company in the coming weeks,
\n“We’re financially ready to go with this development
\n… It’s our expectation that if the city were
\nto award this development to us, we expect we
\nwould be able to begin the construction of the
\ngarage as soon as spring of 2016. That’s critically
\nimportant for not only the city,but city center and
\nthe community as a whole … We have done all of
\nour homework and we are ready to go, financially,
\narchitecturally, engineering-wise. We are ready
\nto go.”<\/p>\n

Mann said, “We truly believe this is the highest
\nand best use for this site. This is such a dynamic
\ncity. It’s a city that people value and want to come
\nto because of the retail, because of the housing,
\nbecause of the mix of things that are here … Parking
\nis absolutely needed, this is a destination city.
\nPeople come and they drive … It would be a mistake
\nto put a parking garage where the rest of it around
\nit is so dynamic.”<\/p>\n

Jeff Hyman of Hyman Hemispheric, Peter
\nStevens of JCJ Architecture and Michael Phinney
\nof the local Phinney Design Group did most of the
\ntalking for their project.<\/p>\n

Some 600 spaces are included in that proposal,
\nalong with about 100 apartments, both market
\nrate and workforce. The entire complex would be
\nringed by retail and there would be “pocket parks”
\nand other green space within the property.<\/p>\n

“This is the last great lot in Saratoga Springs,”
\nsaid Phinney. He said its his team’s intent to hold
\nworkshops with all the stakeholders to determine
\nwhat is acceptable and desired in the design.<\/p>\n

“We are very much committed to a public process
\nwhere we will take our design as it exists now
\nand further develop that in greater detail through
\na series of public workshops … We’re committed to
\nthat process” and concerned with creating public
\nspace and green space that would enhance and
\nbeautify the city.<\/p>\n

Stevens said the preliminary plans envision a
\ncommercial component along Lake Avenue. The
\ncenter portion of the lot could be the parking garage
\nand the north end of the site would be mostly
\nhousing, with retail ringing the entire site. Most
\nof the connections to downtown and High Rock
\nwould be east-west in nature.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This rendering shows part of Highrock Village, proposed by Paramount Realty Group as a mutli-use complex on the city-owned parking lot between Maple Avenue and High Rock. BY R.J. DELUKE Saratoga Springs Mayor Joanne Yepsen said a technical review…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":24681,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,13],"tags":[57,115],"class_list":["post-18415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news","category-construction-planning","tag-business-news","tag-saratoga-springs"],"yoast_head":"\r\nCity Officials To Review Parking Concerns, Traffic, Before Decision On High Rock Site - 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\/12\/city-officials-to-review-parking-concerns-traffic-before-decision-on-high-rock-site-1\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"City Officials To Review Parking Concerns, Traffic, Before Decision On High Rock Site - Saratoga Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This rendering shows part of Highrock Village, proposed by Paramount Realty Group as a mutli-use complex on the city-owned parking lot between Maple Avenue and High Rock. 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