Reconstruction of 15-25 Park Street, a three-story building in downtown Glens Falls, is already underway. Fencing currently surrounds the building at the corner of Park and Elm streets.
“We’ve gutted pretty much the whole building,” Elizabeth Miller told the Glens Falls Industrial Development Agency at their meeting on Dec. 10. Miller has filed paperwork with the IDA asking for sales tax, mortgage recording tax and real property tax assistance, a fairly common occurrence in these documents.
The building has been vacant and rundown. It housed a vacuum cleaner repair shop, a head shop and a small art store before Miller bought the building in 2019. The top floors had been empty. She believed the block could be improved.
“The area has been in need of upgrade,” mayor Dan Hall said during the meeting. “It shows we have business people willing to take a risk and help with the redevelopment of our downtown.”
Judy Calogero, chair of the Glens Falls IDA, said, “It’s an important part of the downtown area.”
The plan for the building is to create a mixed-use development.
The top two floors will hold 10 one- and two-bedroom apartments, including one for the superintendent of the building. The main floor will house a mailroom and gym for the tenants, according to the submitted document, and potentially a restaurant and deli or market.
Exact plans for the main floor are still being considered, Miller said during the subsequent interview.
The property sits across Park Street from the Park Theater and Doc’s restaurant, both part of Miller’s portfolio of local businesses.
Miller said she has been working with her son, Ben Miller, on the building, and he has been working with the contractor to make the best use of the retail space on the first floor.
She did not reveal details, but said they will be planning how to best use all the space--the theater and Doc’s Restaurant on one side of the street and the market and restaurant on the other.
Plans in the document say the main floor, on the Elm Street side, will house a restaurant and small, Italian delicatessen. A kitchen will service both spaces.
At the IDA meeting, Miller said she has tenants to sublet the deli and the restaurant, but she was not ready to share details.
The document submitted to the IDA states that the deli, or market, “will include fresh produce, deli with lunch and dinner to go, essential grocery items, and a wide variety of New York’s best.”
Calogero said there’s no grocery store nearby, “So there seems to be a demand for some sort of delicatessen like this.”
The parking lot, sidewalks and landscaping will be improved all around.
The estimated price for the project is almost $3.1 million, with $2.5 million going toward renovations of the building, $350,000 going to furniture and fixtures, $55,000 toward professional services, and $150,000 toward landscaping and the parking lot, the IDA document says.
Cifone Construction Company is completing the work. The project should be completed next summer.